KARACHI, Sept 17: The Central Board of Revenue will verify taxpayers' computerized national identity cards (CNICs) from the National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA), officials said on Friday.

The NADRA will verify national identity cards by providing an on-line service to the CBR. Initially, the authority will verify a maximum of 100,000 national identity cards (NICs) by charging Rs20 for each national identity card as service fee.

Under an agreement reached between the CBR and the NADRA, the latter will provide the on-line verification service in respect of national identity cards and NICs. The database taken from the National Data Forms collected during the 1998 census and maintained by the NADRA will also be made available to the Central Board of Revenue.

This means that all the necessary information with regard to the holders of national identity cards or NIC would be made available to the CBR through computers, which may include personal text and graphic data of the cardholder borne on his CNIC shown in the shape of front and back side of a CNIC template or personal text data borne on his CNIC shown in separate fields.

If the CBR avails the verification service of all 100,000 NICs, it will incur a cost of Rs20 million, but the question is from where this cost will be borne by the tax authorities.

Both the parties have also put some warranties and covenants to safeguard the interest of each other and ensure that the information do not fall in wrong hands. However, law experts have questioned the validity of the agreement and feel that the National Database and Registration Authority will be breaching the trust of cardholders who could approach a court of law to protect their fundamental rights.