Forbes learned about the freezing of the electronic passport project from the Ministry of Digital Development

The authorities planned to start issuing electronic passports as early as December 2021, but the deadlines have been shifted more than once. According to FORBES sources,

The Ministry of Digital Development of RUSSIA has suspended the project for issuing digital passports for an indefinite period, Forbes reports, citing sources involved in the development of the project.

A Forbes source familiar with the details of the project said that they decided to abandon the electronic passport "for financial reasons." The cost of a digital passport was to be 1,000 rubles, while a paper one costs 300 rubles.

“This would cause a great resonance in society: if the residents of Moscow could afford such expenses, then the regions would not pay so much, given that the practical benefits of such a passport are not obvious,” he said.

At the same time, according to him, technically the project was already ready, but the government did not agree on its launch.

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Another reason for the freeze of the project could be the lack of materials for electronic media, admits a source familiar with the details of the project. “In Russia, there are not enough chips even for issuing bank cards,” Forbes source said.

Another source of the publication, close to one of the microelectronics manufacturers, noted that the chips needed for smart cards can already be created in large volumes, depending on demand. But since there is still no technical documentation for the project, it is not known what kind of chips are needed for an electronic passport, he said.

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Kirill Emelyanov, Deputy DIRECTOR for the Digital Public Administration federal project, confirmed that the planned project deadlines had been shifted. According to him, the implementation requires increased security measures, since we are talking about personal data of citizens and legally significant actions, writes Forbes.

The Mintsifra declined to comment for RBC.

The Ministry of Digital Development proposed to start introducing electronic passports this year Society

Last spring, the Ministry of Digital Development announced plans to introduce electronic passports throughout Russia by 2023. The Ministry of Internal Affairs specified that such a plastic card would contain fingerprints and a photograph of a citizen. If desired, an electronic signature can be added to the media.

In September, the HEAD of the Ministry of Digital Development Maksut Shadayev said that in 2022 Moscow, the Moscow region and Tatarstan could become pilot sites for the introduction of such passports. He noted that a paper passport could be replaced with a smart card and a mobile digital ID.

On December 21, the head of the Ministry of Digital Development said that the ministry had eliminated all disagreements on the draft decree on digital passports. The Ministry of Internal Affairs reported that at the initial stage it was planned to issue at least 100,000 such passports.