Pakistan’s National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) will be rolling out facial biometric verification via NADRA registration centres and the Pak-IK mobile app, starting from January 15, 2025. The initiative arose out of a consultative conference held by NADRA and other regulatory bodies, to discuss biometric and identity verification advances, and how Pakistan’s government can update its own systems. According to NADRA’s chairman, who spoke at the conference, incorporating newer technologies such as facial biometrics would aid the elderly and other groups that may have difficulty with the current system, whether due to faded fingerprinted or other issues.

Conference participants also discussed the potential of iris recognition as a prospective identity verification tool in the future, as well as the National Registration and Biometric Policy Framework.