The never-ending nightmare of NID corrections in Bangladesh
In Bangladesh, fixing an error on your National ID can take months—unless you pay a broker. For many, the fight for an accurate identity is a costly and exhausting battle against corruption and inefficiency
Abdul Rashid had a simple dream—to build a new house in Durgapur, Netrokona. But that dream hit an unexpected roadblock when he applied for a loan from an NGO. Everything seemed fine until they checked his National Identity Card (NID). That's when things got bizarre.
According to his NID, Rashid wasn't 35 years old, as he actually is, but a staggering 104—making him 53 years older than his own father!
Unfortunately, Rashid's case isn't unique. In Bangladesh, if your NID doesn't have any errors, you might just be one of the luckiest people in the country.
The system was supposed to make life easier, providing citizens with a secure and accurate identity document. Instead, it has become a source of endless headaches. From misspelt names and impossible birthdates to outright nonsensical family ties, the errors are so common—and often so absurd—that they feel like something out of a comedy sketch. But for the people affected, it's anything but funny.
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In Kalai upazila of Joypurhat, 75-year-old Moslim Uddin was denied an old-age allowance due to the incorrect date of birth on his NID. According to his card, he was born on 28 October 1959, making him only 4 years older than his son who was born in 1963.
"I live on charity. But because of this error, I can't access the allowance I'm entitled to," said Moslim.
When he approached the election office for correction, he was overcharged by the computer operator who demanded an additional 'service fee' on top of the standard application cost.
Nurul Islam, from Rangunia, says that his wife's name appears in place of his mother's name on his NID. "I applied for a correction a few years ago, but it has not been resolved yet. It's funny how my wife is the grandmother of my children according to my NID," he said.
While this may sound funny, these can cause major problems in their daily lives and their children's education or official paperwork.
Badal Sarker from Ishwardi, Pabna, never imagined that a simple typo could turn into such a nightmare. His name was mistakenly recorded as 'Badal Darker,' and when he applied online to fix it, his request was flat-out rejected.
Determined to get it corrected, he travelled all the way to the Election Commission office in Dhaka. But instead of getting his problem solved, he was told to just get a signature and head back to his local office in Pabna. Frustrated and exhausted from the back-and-forth, Badal finally gave in and took the "shortcut"—hiring a broker.
The broker initially demanded Tk20,000, but after some bargaining, Badal managed to get the job done for Tk15,000—within a single day.
"I was about to leave when a broker offered to fix everything in a day," Badal said. "I knew it wasn't the right way, but honestly, I had no idea when this endless cycle between Dhaka and Pabna would end. So, I just took the easy way out."
For Al Amin Hossain from Rangpur, the issue wasn't a typo—it was the absence of his smart NID card altogether. He applied back in 2018, but after years of waiting, all he has is a laminated printout of the digital version he downloaded from the Election Commission's website.
"I've been waiting for years," Al Amin said. "They kept saying the smart card would come before the election, but I've heard that for seven years now. Two elections have passed, and my card is still nowhere to be found."
An official from the Election Commission, speaking anonymously, admitted to the problem. "We simply don't have enough smart cards. We issue them in certain areas before elections, but even when new batches arrive, they won't be enough because of the massive backlog of correction requests."
After 5 August last year, there was hope for major reforms across different sectors. But when it comes to NID services, nothing has changed. Despite promises of smoother, more efficient processes, citizens are still dealing with the same endless struggles.
Currently, more than 167,800 correction requests are pending in four different categories, according to the Election Commission. The process is painfully slow and bureaucratic—applicants must either apply online and pay via the NID Wallet or go through a tedious manual submission. And even then, rejection rates are high, and manual applications can mean months of waiting.
For many, the only real solution seems to be what Badal did—pay a hefty fee to a broker and get it done in a day. But should fixing a basic identity document really be this difficult?
There are complaints of a lack of manpower during the voter list update and the new NID application procedure. The EC temporarily appoints school teachers to collect the applicant's information and file the application for them.
"We are not trained for this. With hundreds of people crowding the centre for photos and fingerprints on the same day, mistakes are bound to happen," said Mohammad Atikuzzaman, a government primary school teacher from Pabna.
In many cases, brokers and middlemen exploit the situation, charging exorbitant fees to fast-track the process. As Bangladesh moves towards digitalisation, the NID system remains riddled with inefficiencies and corruption.
However, to solve the issues, the government has proposed a new system to organise these registration services. A draft law, the Civil Registration Ordinance, 2025, proposes establishing a 'Civil Registration Commission' to consolidate birth registration and NID services under a unified body.
But, the proposal has sparked debates and protests, with Election Commission employees staging a sit-in to demand that NID services remain under them. They are still protesting and demanding that the NID services should be kept under the Election Commission.
"We believe that NID services should remain under the EC, we have been developing this system since 2007. We have technical expertise and are providing the required services." EC Senior Secretary Akhtar Ahmed said while responding to a reporter's query at the EC.
If birth registration and NID services were unified, updating information would be much more efficient.
Following this, the EC has sent a letter to the government, expressing its disagreement with the plan to transfer the NID service from the EC's jurisdiction.
But another official from the Election Commission wishing to stay anonymous revealed, "If the NID services are removed from EC, they will almost lose one-third of their income. EC gets a huge sum from the correction application fees. More importantly, the staff will lose the percentage they get from the broker syndicate. Each of the staff who are linked with the brokers gets almost 30-40 thousand taka every week for unethically doing or aiding the broker's works."
Dr Sadik Hasan, Professor of Public Administration at Dhaka University, said that, "If birth registration and NID services are unified under a single body, updating information would become more efficient as they would share the same database. Currently, two independent bodies handle data collection and storage, which creates room for errors and loopholes."
He also highlighted the root of the problem is the lack of accountability and trained personnel.
"The initial application process is deeply flawed. Mistakes occur during data entry, and there is no system in place to hold those responsible accountable. Since there is no accountability, the mistake margins never decline," he said.
The cost of correcting an NID error is not just financial. The application requires various documents depending on the nature of the correction. For instance, correcting a birth date requires an attested copy of an SSC certificate or a birth certificate.
For name corrections, an affidavit from a magistrate court and a newspaper advertisement are needed. Even after submitting the required documents, applicants are called to interviews and field investigations, dragging the process out for months, sometimes years.
Addressing this Dr Mohammad Kamrul Hasan, deputy secretary at the Ministry of Public Administration, said, "The workload is immense, but the staff is limited. This leads to errors that go unchecked. Involving more personnel in the process could significantly reduce the number of mistakes, and shorten the time."
