ePassport project falters after missing deadlines twice

The issuance of ePassports faces further uncertainty as the authorities have failed to fix a fresh date for its launch. They missed two deadlines earlier.

The ePassport was scheduled to be issued in June this year under the project“Introduction of ePassport and Automated Border Control Management in Bangladesh”. Later, it was postponed to July but now it is uncertain when ePassport will be rolled out.

An official at the Ministry of Home Affairs said though the Department of Immigration and Passports (DIP) is almost ready to issue ePassport, the department, especially the project director (PD), is yet to inform the ministry about the completion of their preparations.

“As soon as they inform us that they are ready for the distribution of ePassports, we will finalise the date,” the official said, wishing to remain anonymous.

On 1 August, he said, the Home Ministry issued a notification about fees, duration and types of ePassport delivery both home and abroad.

He said they have to issue notification again cancelling the previous one as they have to change the application form.

“But the fees, duration and types of delivery will remain the same,” he added.

Project director brigadier general Saidur Rahman Khan said that the date for launching ePassport is yet to be finalised as it is the Home Ministry that will do it.
When asked about the department failing to to inform the Home Ministry that it is ready for the distribution of ePassport, Saidur said the ministry is aware of everything.
“Please give us time, we’ll let you know about the launch date,” he added.

While talking to reporters at the secretariat on 3 November, home minister Asaduzzaman Khan said, “The ePassport is expected to be rolled out at the end of the year, but no date has been fixed yet.”

Replying to foreign minister’s announcement that the ePassport would be launched on 28 November, he said,” We’re working on it, but no date has been fixed yet.”

Sources at the DIP said the distribution of ePassport was scheduled to start in December last year but it was pushed back to June this year. The authorities concerned failed to begin the work in the stipulated time.

Meanwhile, the government has moved again to procure 2 million more machine readable passports (MRPs) on an emergency basis directly from the existing supplier through the direct procurement method (DPM).

Officials at the Security Services Division (SSD) of the Ministry of Home Affairs, which initiated the move, said the failure to introduce e-Passports has prompted them to go for such a costly procurement of MRPs without tender.

Arranging funds for the project delayed the work as it was approved by ECNEC on 21 June last year and the national budget for 2018-19 was also proposed on the same month. So, it took time to arrange the funds for the project. Besides, various complications also arose during the work, said an official at the DIP headquarters.

According to a home ministry circular, there will be two categories of ePassport—one of 48 pages and another of 64 pages, and the validity will be of 5 and ten years. The delivery will be of three types — general, express and super express.

The ePassport has an embedded electronic microprocessor chip which contains biometric information used to authenticate the identity of the bearer.

Bangladesh and Germany signed an agreement on 19 July last year following Dhaka’s decision to issue electronic passports alongside the machine readable ones.

The DIP sources said the issuance of ePassports will start from Dhaka initially. The distribution of MRP will continue from other regional offices until they start issuing ePassports. The existing MRPs will be accepted during their valid period.

Meanwhile, e-gates are being installed at every airport and land port across the country to facilitate the use of ePassports.