The Election Commission has identified more than 500 individuals in Bangladesh who possess multiple National Identity Cards (NIDs) and has launched efforts to resolve the issue, according to ASM Humayun Kabir, director general of the National Identity Registration Wing at the EC.

"We have detected over 500 cases of duplicate NIDs across the country. While we cannot manually verify the data of more than 130 million citizens, we will take action if someone provides information and we can verify it," he said while speaking at his office in the Election Commission Building this afternoon.

He expressed hope that significant progress would be made by next week.

As part of the ongoing reforms, the EC is decentralising the process for correcting NID information.

District election officers will now be authorised to handle such corrections, a responsibility previously held only by regional officers.

"To ensure better public service, the commission is approving reasonable applications promptly. A large number of requests are pending in our division, and we're distributing responsibilities to resolve them more efficiently," Kabir said.

He added that administrative changes are being made within the EC Secretariat to simplify internal procedures.

"We are empowering officials with greater authority. Regional offices now have the authority to categorise cases, and we're closely monitoring their performance. Many are doing it properly—some are not," he said.

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On Rohingya issues, Kabir said a database was expected to be shared with the EC last week through an API, but the foreign ministry and other agencies have decided to retain the data.

"We don't mind where the data comes from—as long as we receive it, we're satisfied. We will not allow Rohingya or any foreign nationals into our NID system," he said.

Kabir also discussed plans for a seminar on the NID process, saying, "Initially, we plan to include media personnel, relevant officials working on process simplification, and some prominent individuals. A final decision will be made this month."

He added that the involvement of political parties would be considered if deemed beneficial.

Regarding the server for Rohingya data, Kabir said, "I haven't received a final decision on which ministry it will fall under. But wherever the server is located, as long as we can verify their fingerprints, we'll be able to proceed."

Kabir also confirmed the expansion of expatriate voter registration, which is already operational in Australia.

"Regular registration is ongoing in Australia, and it's currently functional in eight countries. Canada will be added next week, taking the total to nine. The main challenge in other countries is the lack of space in embassies," he said.