ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has notified amendments to the National Identity Card and Pakistan Origin Card rules and introduced QR-based verification and stronger fraud controls, the National Database and Regulatory Authority (NADRA) said on Tuesday, amid efforts to strengthen the country’s digital ecosystem.
The amendments modernize Pakistan’s identity document framework by legally embedding QR-based verification, strengthening authentication controls across digital services, expanding biometric recognition and updating card formats for key citizen categories.
A core reform is the statutory introduction of the Quick Response (QR) code as a defined security and verification feature, authorizing the use of “QR code or any other technological feature” in lieu of current microchip enabling NADRA to adopt evolving verification technologies without repeated rule amendments.
This QR-enabled capability directly strengthens Pakistan’s Digital ID ecosystem and supports interoperability through the National Data Exchange Layer, according to the national database regulator.
“This establishes a robust legal basis for quick and secure verification of identity credentials in both offline and online environments,” NADRA said.
