The Sri Lankan government has procured 350 units of biometric hardware, which include high-resolution cameras and fingerprint scanners, for the country’s ambitious Sri Lanka Unique Digital Identity (SL-UDI) project. This project aims to convert the nation’s standard identification card (ID) into a digital format.
In a statement on Sunday in Colombo, Deputy Minister of Digital Economy, Eranga Weeraratne, confirmed that a tender for an additional 400 units of similar biometric hardware has been awarded. The Department of Registrar of Persons (DRP), responsible for issuing national identity cards, has already invested 5.5 billion Sri Lankan rupees (SLRS) into the SL-UDI project, which is designed to boost the economy, enhance services, and reduce corruption.
Weeraratne also revealed that the previous government had secured a financial grant of SLRS 10.4 billion from India to support the project, which is estimated to cost SLRS 20 billion (approximately US$67.3 million). This sum includes the establishment of two sophisticated data centers to host the platform at DRP sites, alongside the running costs for three years and hardware expenses. The Sri Lankan government is expected to contribute an additional SLRS 4.5 billion to the project.
Concerns regarding Indian access to Sri Lankan personal data led to further discussions by the National Peoples Power (NPP) government. To address these concerns, the NPP amended the agreement with India to ensure local control of the project, working with the non-profit Indian platform provider, MOSIP (Modular Open-Source Identification Platform), which has been engaged with the Sri Lankan government since 2020.
Weeraratne assured that the system would be entirely managed and controlled by Sri Lankan professionals, emphasizing that the government would oversee database management, software updates, and logins. The DRP is currently in the final stages of implementing the platform and training personnel. Collection of fingerprints and facial recognition data is expected to begin next month. The revised Digital ID Act in Sri Lanka now includes provisions for fingerprint and facial recognition.
Iris biometric scanning will be introduced later once the DRP and system infrastructure are ready for this data collection.
Initially, the digital ID program will be launched for 16-year-olds, who will be issued their first ID cards. After six months, the project will extend to the older national identity cardholders, offering them the option to transition to electronic national identity cards (e-NICs). Banks and other institutions will integrate fingerprint scanning to confirm account holders’ identities.
As the project progresses, the Sri Lankan government also plans to integrate various government services, including payments for municipal councils, university fees, and other official functions, through its GovPay project. Weeraratne stated that 16 government institutions have already been integrated, with 30 institutions expected to be included by April.
India’s collaboration with Sri Lanka is significant as it operates the world’s largest digital identity system, providing funding and technical expertise for the e-NIC project. International financial organizations such as the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank are also in discussions to support Sri Lanka’s digitalization efforts.
With the increasing importance of digital infrastructure, commentators have urged Sri Lankan officials to ensure adequate safeguards are in place, maintaining sovereign control over the nation’s digital identity system.
