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By Roy Zia Ur Rahman
ISLAMABAD, Oct 05 (APP):In the middle of an open ground in Ali Town, Rawalpindi, where people throw garbage and children play among tin and plastic, 45-year-old Bakht Bibi, known as Bakhtan, sits outside her small hut made of cloth and metal sheets. Her husband passed away a few months ago, leaving behind six children and no property.
For the first time in her family, a CNIC has been cancelled after a death.
“We never thought cancelling the ID card was necessary,” she told APP. “But now NADRA has made it easy. The cancellation is free, and the entry appears in our family tree record automatically.”
Across Pakistan, many families still do not cancel the CNICs of their deceased relatives. Some avoid the process because of the fee, while others are unaware of its importance. Without cancellation, the ID cards of the deceased remain active — creating issues in inheritance, pensions, and legal transactions.
Under the direction of the Minister for Interior, the National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) has introduced key reforms:
CNIC cancellation after death is now free of charge.
Data sharing with the Civil Registration Management System (CRMS) has been strengthened.
Biometric verification is now required to prevent false or mistaken death entries.
When a death is recorded in the CRMS, NADRA automatically updates the family record. Relatives visiting NADRA for any other service are first asked to confirm the death through biometric verification before the deceased’s CNIC is cancelled.
Although NADRA can cancel CNICs automatically based on provincial data, the biometric step ensures accuracy, especially as provincial systems still lack biometric devices.
Officials say the reforms have shown strong results. CNIC cancellations after death have increased nearly six times, data accuracy has improved, and fake entries have sharply declined.
A resident from Rawalpindi, Bilal Ahmed, said:
“Earlier, people avoided the process because of the cost, but now we can easily cancel the ID cards of our elders after their passing.”
From Sargodha, village headman Ghulam Ali Dhaddi told APP:
“When a CNIC is cancelled, all related departments — like property and FBR — should automatically update their data. Poor and uneducated families find it hard to visit every office,” he said.
Legal expert Usman Farooq Dhaddi told APP that NADRA’s decision to make CNIC cancellation free would not only help families but also strengthen national databases.
“With accurate death records, the government can plan better from budgets to workforce estimates,” he said.
He added that connecting NADRA’s verified data with other departments would promote transparency in inheritance and welfare systems.
A woman named Sidra told APP with regret that while the free cancellation was a welcome step, more needed to be done.
“I wish property transfer and inheritance division were also made free and automatic with CNIC cancellation,” she said, “so that daughters like me could easily receive our rightful share.”
For women like Bakht Bibi, the change is more than administrative. It brings dignity and inclusion. Her late husband’s name is now properly marked in the NADRA family tree — proof that even families living in poverty are counted and acknowledged.