The Election Commission (EC) says it is planning to issue them free-of-cost by the end of this year.
The present NID cards have the owners’ names, their parents’ names, dates of birth, and ID numbers on one side and the residential addresses on the other.
The EC and the World Bank had reached an agreement two years ago on the production and distribution of the new cards.
But the EC blames the delay in rolling them out on legal complications.
It plans to invite tender and place orders for their printing after a legal framework is put in place.
“We plan to distribute in phases the new ID cards resembling smartcards by October this year,” EC’s acting Secretary Md Sirajul Islam told bdnews24.com.
If the October deadline is missed somehow, the Commission will then start the process in early 2015.
Chief Election Commissioner Kazi Rakibuddin Ahmad is currently in the US attending a programme on NID cards.
Islam said these cards would be manufactured locally with the help of advanced technology.
“These slick-looking smartcards will be machine-readable and counterfeit-proof,” he said. “Each will cost at least $2 to make.”
EC officials say the new identity proof will be valid for at least 10 years. The fee for getting a duplicate if the original is either lost, damaged, or needs rectification will be decided later.
The CEC and EC officials are touring various countries to learn about the manufacture and use of smartcards there.
Bangladesh has over 92 million registered voters. Nearly a million are yet to collect their NIDs.
The ATM Shamsul Huda-led EC in 2007 started preparing voter lists with photos and handing out NIDs with army help.
Last year, the National ID Amendment Bill was passed, making it mandatory to give each voter an identity proof.
As a result, those below 18 years of age can now have NIDs.
The amended law provides for preserving voter information and maintaining secrecy. Anyone violating the clauses could be jailed for a maximum of five years and fined Tk 50,000.
The EC, however, is yet to collect full data on those below 18 years.
