Price tag for Norway’s national ID cards balloons to €73 million
New figures in the government’s national budget estimate the cost of providing new national ID cards to the residents of Norway has reached €73 million, up from the original estimate of €1.5 million in 2007. That includes the cost of converting passport offices nationwide to handle the new cards, reports The Local.
The new national ID cards are expected to be ready by 2020 at the earliest after the project has been delayed five times. According to Aftenposten, the costs have increased along the way due to a variety of problems and increased project scope. The government claims the increased costs are due to “actual cost increases” and “measures deemed necessary”.
The current justice minister is the sixth minister to be responsible for the ID card project. The previous minister said the program had been poorly planned from the start and put the blame on poor management from the Police Directorate and ministry.
The purpose of the new ID cards is to give Norwegians travel documents for Schengen Area travel and to give access to various national public services.
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