The photocopying or visual inspection of Ghana Cards for transactional purposes has reportedly been prohibited following the coming into force of an amendment to the National Identity Regulations.
Under the new directive, organizations that require identity verification for transactions are expected to use biometric verification through the Ghana Card identity verification system instead of relying on photocopies or visual checks of the card.
Institutions found violating the directive could face legal sanctions, including fines ranging from 500 to 2,000 penalty units upon summary conviction. Individuals who breach the requirement may also face penalties ranging from 50 to 500 penalty units.
The development follows the maturity of an amendment to Legislative Instrument (LI) 2111, which was introduced in Parliament three months ago and has now been gazetted.
The Minister responsible for the National Identification Authority (NIA) is expected to address the public in the coming days on measures being taken to implement and enforce the new requirements.
In preparation for compliance, organizations that need access to Ghana Card verification services have been advised to apply for onboarding onto the NIA Identity Verification Platform.
CREDIT: MAVIS FANTEVI