Businesses face problems as EC cancels NID data agreement with Computer Council

Businesses from banks to courier services and fintech companies are now facing problems onboarding new customers after the Election Commission (EC) recently revoked the Bangladesh Computer Board’s (BCC) access to the national book database of identity.

Previously, businesses used verification services from private firm Digicon Global Services, which has a data access agreement with CCA.

But BCC itself has now lost access due to its data-sharing agreement with third-party company Digicon.

Wahidur Rahman Sharif, the managing director of Digicon, is said to have had close ties with the former Awami League regime. Using these political connections, he would have secured an agreement with the CCA in 2022.

This offering allowed Digicon’s Identity Verification API provider “Porichoy” to access EC data via BCC.

Although sharing EC data with a third party by a government or statutory body, in this case the CCA, is a breach of the law, a Cabinet Committee on Government Procurement even approved a rate sharing plan in 2022.

BUSINESS SHOUTS

The EC’s recent decision to ban CCA from accessing the database due to these violations has brought this issue to the fore.

Now, Digicon customers, after facing a complete shutdown in onboarding new customers, are speaking out against the legal violations that led to this situation.

“While we welcome the decision to restrict third-party access to such sensitive data, it should have been implemented with prior notice and in a more coordinated manner to prevent any business disruption,” said Fahim Ahmed, CEO of Pathao, a user of Porichoy’s. services.

Companies claim they were directed to Porichoy by EC officials when they requested direct NID verification services.

“After obtaining our payment service provider (PSP) license in April 2023, we applied to the EC for NID verification services in August 2023,” Ahmed said. “However, the EC has directed us to use Porichoy’s services instead.”

An official of online truck rental platform ‘Truck Lagbe’, who requested anonymity, said their requests for direct access to NID verification services were deliberately diverted to Porichoy.

Anayet Rashid, co-founder and CEO of Truck Lagbe, said they were facing challenges due to the shutdown of Porichoy’s services.

“This is a serious service disruption.”

Digital financial services provider Nagad is also facing similar problems onboarding new customers.

“Our operations are badly affected as we are struggling to onboard new customers,” said a Nagad official.

Green and Technologies Ltd, a licensed payment service provider, has requested a direct connection with CE in mid-2022 as CE’s service is cheaper than Porichoy.

However, the company only received its credentials last week and is still waiting for API access.

TIMELINE

In September 2022, the Cabinet Committee on Government Procurement approved the distribution of Porichoy’s service charge rates.

On 4 October 2022, the CCA concluded a bilateral agreement with the EC on data verification.

BCC subsequently entered into another agreement with Digicon Global Services Limited to provide an ID verification service – Porichoy – to both public and private entities, including global organisations.

On December 20 of this year, CE disconnected the API provided to CCA.

REVENUE SHARING MODEL

Of the 100 percent fee paid by government, semi-government and autonomous agencies for verification using Porichoy, CCA will get 20 percent, data owner 20 percent and Digicon the remaining 60 percent, as per the model approved by the Cabinet Committee. regarding Public Procurement.

Data owner here refers to the government body that owns the data. For example, the CE in this case holds the national identity card data.

For non-governmental entities, different service charges apply depending on the service.

From the fees paid by a private entity for basic verification or national identity verification, both the CCA and the data owner, the CE will receive 20% of each, while 60% will go to Digicon.

For biometric verification fees paid by a private entity, a staggering 90 percent will go to Digicon.

Over the years, more than 450 companies have used Porichoy’s services through Digicon, with a total of 8 million hits, generating Tk 112 million in revenue as of October this year, according to BCC.

Of this amount, the government entities received only Tk 17.88 million, while Digicon received the rest. Despite this, Digicon has not paid government agencies more than Tk 7 million out of Tk 17.88 million, which is stipulated in the revenue sharing model.

The Daily Star tried to contact Digicon managing director Wahidur Rahman Sharif for comment but was unable to reach him.

However, Sharif previously claimed to the newspaper that Digicon provided services without direct access to NID data.