T

he Home Ministry admitted on Thursday that blank e-ID cards had been sold to the public and had been used to produce fake ID cards, in the latest glitch in the country’s troubled population registry system that has also been marred by corruption.

The ministry has reported Nur Ihsadi Nata, the son of a former official in the Lampung Population and Civil Registration (Dukcapil) Agency, to the police.

He is accused of selling the blank cards, which he allegedly took from his father without his knowledge, to others who later sold them on Tokopedia, the country’s largest online marketplace, and at the Pramuka Pojok market in Central Jakarta.

“We have reported [the seller] to the police for allegedly violating Article 96 of the 2013 Civil Administration Law,” the Home Ministry’s population and civil registration director general, Zudan Arif Fakrulloh, said on
Thursday.

The report was made following an investigation report by Kompas that uncovered that blank e-ID cards were being sold at Pramuka Pojok and on Tokopedia. A printing kiosk at Pramuka Pojok was reportedly offering a service to make fake ID cards.

The blank cards are the property of the government as the only party authorized to issue ID cards. The blank cards are not allowed to be sold commercially.

The law stipulates that any individual or institution that, without authorization, issues or distributes the cards or civil administration documents will face a maximum sentence of 10 years’ imprisonment and a fine of Rp 1 billion (US$ 68,700).

Zudan said the 27-year-old seller took 10 blank e-ID cards from his father, who is a former head of the Lampung Dukcapil Agency, and sold them for Rp 10,000 each.

The father, who retired a couple of months ago, brought the cards home, an act that the ministry described as “careless”.

“Basically, no officials are allowed to carry the cards anywhere, including to their homes, unless they are assigned to record residents in their residential area. But as he [the father] was the agency head, he had the right to take the cards without an assignment,” Zudan said.

The e-ID project is a flagship government project that began during former president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono’s administration. It is aimed at creating a single identification number for each citizen to improve the delivery efficiency of public services.

The Rp 5.9 trillion project was in dire straits when the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) revealed that corruption had occurred during the budget allocation and procurement process, causing Rp 2.3 trillion in state losses.

At least eight high-ranking officials have been convicted in the graft case, including former House speaker and Golkar Party chairman Setya Novanto, former population and civil registration director general Irman and former population administration information management director general Sugiharto.

House of Representatives’ Commission II overseeing home affairs slammed the ministry for the breach in the system, calling it a scandal that could not be taken lightly.

“This is a serious case. Law enforcement should investigate this case. We need to audit the e-ID management in the Home Ministry,” Commission II deputy chairman Mardani Ali Sera of the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) said.

Another commission member and NasDem Party lawmaker Tamanuri said he was sure that more than 10 blank cards had been illegally sold.

They said the leak could lead to serious security issues with the country preparing for April’s general election. The cards could be misused to produce fake ID cards that would enabled unknown individuals to vote more than once.

The case is somewhat ironic considering that some citizens are still struggling to get their e-IDs.

Data from the ministry shows that on average 97.3 percent of people in the country’s 34 provinces have received e-IDs, with Papua being the most difficult region to record citizens data and distribute the cards because of its difficult terrain.