Nepal to Buy Biometric System from French Company IN Groupe

The government has decided to purchase an Automated Biometric Identification System (ABIS) from French company IN Groupe without competition. The system will be used for the national identity card project.

The ABIS will help identify individuals and prevent duplication of records. It will store personal data of millions of people and help in various tasks such as crime investigation, identity verification, and security.

The system includes features such as fingerprint, facial recognition, and retinal scan. The license purchased by the government will help in identifying and testing these features.

Background

The proposal for the purchase was approved by the Council of Ministers on Jestha 29. The Department of National Identity Card and Registration had prepared the proposal.

Director General of the department, Krishna Paudel, said that the government has given permission to purchase the license from IN Groupe, which is fully owned by the French Ministry of Economy. He added that the price of the license will be the same as the previous agreement made in the fiscal year 2075/76.

Initially, the government had planned to distribute national identity cards to 20 million people. Now, it plans to distribute cards to the remaining 10 million people using the ABIS system purchased from IN Groupe.

Clarification on Controversy

Director General Paudel clarified that the French company Idemia, which had previously received the contract for passports, has no role in the current agreement. He said that the price was determined through negotiations between the two governments and there is no agent or commission involved.

Idemia Group has three main subsidiaries – Idemia Security Transactions, Idemia Public Security, and Idemia Smart Identity. Idemia Smart Identity, which works on passports, national identity cards, driving licenses, and digital identity solutions, was acquired by IN Groupe two years ago.

The Council of Ministers had initially decided to purchase 1.5 million units directly and the remaining 8.5 million units through the government-to-government (G2G) method.