Tan Kin Lian's Blog: Replace a NRIC

Thursday, June 24, 2010

Replace a NRIC

Someone complained that $100 is too much to pay for a replacement of NRIC. Apart from this fee, they have to go through a lot of trouble, including visiting the crowded SIR office near Lavendar station.

The NRIC office said that $100 is the cost of replacing a NRIC. Is this so? There are many organisations that issue membership card with photograph. They do not charge $100 for a replacement card.

Most people take care of their NRIC and do not lose it due to carelessness. Many organisations ask for NRIC to record visitors. For it to be used often, it is quite easy for it to be misplaced.

I hope that the NRIC office should consider that $100 is a lot of money for students and low income earners. They should avoid levying excessively high charges.

Tan Kin Lian

17 comments:

Anonymous said...: REX comments as follows.

Considering that the number of people who lose ICs is probably quite low, i agree that there is no need to charge so high as $100 since the raw materials are cheap and the labour cost of the civil service is fixed. On the other hand, a passport, which is made of good quality paper, and has obviously higher production costs, is only $70!!!!

Speaking of passports: you pay $70 but nowadays you have to renew it every 5 years (used to be 10). A new passport has 65 pages. But do most people travel so much -think of the hundred thousand school kids who travel only twice a year during school vacation... Even for frequent travellers, 65 pages of passport can last 10 years easily 6 stampings per page= 380 visits = 38 visits per year = travel 3 times each month for 10 years!!)

It is very wasteful to have to throw a passport away after 5 years when you stamp only very few pages of it. The passport paper is high quality paper, how many trees have to be cut down to make 65 pages of passport with a thick nice cover?

Could someone share if other countries are doing exactly likewise... there must be a greener way to go even if so...
(maybe two types of passport, simple one for occasional traveller and 65 page one for very frequent travellers...)

rex; June 24, 2010 8:47 AM
Anonymous said...: My NRIC was made when it was first introduced i.e. some >17 years ago. It is cracking up with one edge seriously chipped off due to prolong bending because I kept it in my wallet.

At $100, I am reluctant to change. Can anything last forever? Holding the cracked card together with Scotchtape is very much cheaper than paying $100.....; June 24, 2010 8:50 AM
Anonymous said...: It has nothing to do with the actual cost of replacing the i/c. It is "punishment" to teach little children to be more careful with their passports and i/c. I thot this was already reported in the Straits Times a few years ago.; June 24, 2010 8:57 AM
Anonymous said...: The cost of the blank card is just a dollar or so. The machine to produce the card may cost a lot of money but the quantity of NRIC that they produce is in the millions so the unit cost is very small. The manpower cost is also not so much or maybe a little more considering the high pay of the senior civil servants. Therfore the total cost of a replacement is very small and yet they charge $10.; June 24, 2010 8:57 AM
Anonymous said...: This is why I leave my IC at home.; June 24, 2010 9:12 AM
Anonymous said...: Maybe govt is too busy processing new PRs and citizenship matters.

Not much time to consider such matters as damaged ICs, high replacement cost, underused but expired passports or save the trees. After all, you folks have no choice but to foot whatever the cost.; June 24, 2010 9:56 AM
Anonymous said...: I always find it quite ridiculous that we need to pay $100 just to replace our NRIC due to wear and tear. They should have an exercise to replace it FOC maybe at an interval of every 10 to 20 years. Do they expect us to carry it in a separate specially make IC holder(guys normally put in together with our wallets) to prevent it from wear and tear since I understand that it's compulsory to carry it along with us?; June 24, 2010 10:07 AM
Anonymous said...: My IC was issued in 1994 when NRO was changing the old IC to the new IC back then. Now one corner of my IC is also chipped off but the important information is intact. I refuse to pay $100 for a new IC as it was due to wear and tear.

Anyway, I am just wondering shouldn't the government pay for the IC since it is they who want to issue the IC to us. Unlike passport I have never asked for an IC to be issued to me in the first place.; June 24, 2010 11:51 AM
Anonymous said...: Don't think one must carry IC all the time.

Heard lots of grouses concerning IC replacement.

Like to suggest that for old folks, family members give them a name card with name, ic number, address and contact number(s) to be carried with them. The card should preferably be of durable material.

As for others, photostat the ic and laminate the photostat copy and carry it with You. Secure the original ones at home.; June 24, 2010 1:11 PM
Anonymous said...: even if u did not lose your card but want it replaced because its worn out, you still have to pay $100.; June 24, 2010 2:11 PM
Anonymous said...: I paid $300! For losing it twice. Yes, and it was said the price is a punishment for carelessness. What BS, they think people so free like to lose their wallets. Another example of the punitive and money-faced PAP regime.; June 24, 2010 3:25 PM
Anonymous said...: The $100 is just to punish you lah...

Best is to leave IC at home.

For those who passed driving test, just use your driving license.

For others, consider carry passport. Yeah troublesome, but advantage of being able to runroad anytime.

Or else follow the old-timers --- photocopy your IC and self "laminate" using ta-pao kopi plastic bag!; June 24, 2010 3:28 PM
Lye Khuen Way said...: Let me share another story about our NRIC.

I was absent-minded enough a few years back to misplaced my wallet with money/Credit Cards & my IC. When I realised my carelessness, I quickly called up all my Credit cCrds companies to report. ( There is another story of which Credit Card/Banks have the best service !)
Anyway, in Neighbourhood Police Post to report the loss. Back then, they operate longer hours !

About a week later, in my letter box was a Singpost envelope with my wallet, all intact except for the money.
I quickily went to my NHPP again, bringing along my Police Report.
Would you believe that I was told that it is all right. No need to write another report about my IC, no need to sign anything !

So that assumption that ICA is teaching us a lesson about taking good care of our IC just do not cut.

What I took away from this incident, among many other lessons was that the SFP was too under-staffed, would rather be left alone, un-heard, un-seen.... Tell me otherwise.; June 24, 2010 8:23 PM
Anonymous said...: Our Police is definitely understaffed to bother about the loss of ICs. Tell you what, when you lose your IC, don't say you lose or misplace your wallet (with your IC in it), just say your wallet has been snatched away by someone and run off). Then the Police would record your statement, as a crime has been committed. Silly, but it is true from my experience, you have to report at the Police Station, as someone may use your IC to open mobile phone account or worse still, use it to borrow from loansharks.; June 24, 2010 9:34 PM
Anonymous said...: The high charge of $100 is a deterrent so that people are more careful with such a document.

This is to correct what the economists called market failure.

A low charge would mean much higher request for replacement involving high usage of administrative services and time and cost which could be allocated to other worthy services. Further the que at the NRIC centre would be longer causing stress, waste of time and other negative externalities.

If the frequency does not abate, I would recommend the charge to be increased by another 100%.

See, it is all about correcting negative externalities whose cost is not factored into the charge.

This is economics 101.; June 25, 2010 10:21 AM
Anonymous said...: Banks only charge you SGD5 for replacing your chipped ATM card & some even waive it off. Since they are not profit-making organisation, why can't they just waive off the SGD100 for replacemnt of NRIC?; June 28, 2010 4:25 PM
Burda Bar said...: My I/C was issued in 1996, is now damaged due to wear and tear. It suddenly broke into 2 pieces and was chipped at one corner. I didn't do anything that caused it to break. Of course there was the frequent use that I cannot avoid. It's not my fault. It could be the fault of the department responsible for making the IC. They probably made it using material that is not meant to last a lifetime. Is it fair then for me to pay for a replacement? Can I use my broken IC to show to any government officers if I am required to produce my Ic?; February 06, 2020 7:15 PM