COST FOR IDS

$60 CHARGE FOR NEW TRIDENT IDENTIFICATION CARDS AFTER JUNE 30

By Emmanuel Joseph

Barbadians will have to start paying for their new Trident identification cards after June 30.
Making the disclosure on Monday, Chief Electoral Officer Angela Taylor said while the Trident card is currently free, residents who have not registered for it by that extended deadline will have to fork out $60 to purchase the digital ID.
“Right now the card is free, but if you come after the validity period, then you will have to pay for the card,” Taylor told Barbados TODAY in an interview.
“The old ID card will become invalid after June 30. For sure, if you don’t have the new Trident Card you will have to pay the $60 fee for the card…that’s for sure…. Whether persons in the private or public sector business houses will accept it is another question, but it will no longer be valid.”
Taylor also said that despite experiencing “a little dip”, the department is on track with the issuing of the digital cards.
She also reported a steady flow of people registering and collecting their IDs.
“I think we had a little dip, but we were always on track and things are going steadily. We have a steady flow of persons registering. When it comes toward the end, you get a mad push but we have a steady flow now of…registrations and collections as well,” Taylor said.
She also said the fear and doubt surrounding potential exposure or security of personal information was waning.
“People seem to be using their cards, mindful that they are expected to have them. More and more persons are coming out and getting their cards. I think a lot of the skepticism has passed, some of that has passed. Persons who are using their cards are learning that they don’t have your personal information and persons are getting comfortable that it’s an ID card…just that,” the chief electoral officer asserted.
“Some of what was out there on social media was that the cards have all the banking information, health information, and that the card would be used to track you. Those were the things persons were taking the time getting over…. They had to learn for themselves they were not true.”
Taylor said that according to the latest data, 198 980 people have registered, 38 470 cards are to be collected and 5 000 cards are at production to be printed.
Registration that marked the rollout of the new ID card started on June 27 last year. The old ID cards were first set to expire on March 31, 2023, but the June 30 deadline was subsequently given because the Electoral and Boundaries Commission (EBC) was having challenges sourcing supplies for the production of the cards.
In April this year, Prime Minister Mia Mottley told a St Joseph Speaks town hall meeting that the EBC and the suppliers had run out of the cards.
emmanueljoseph@barbadostoday.bb