The Department for Registration of Persons (DRP) resumed issuing National Identity Cards on Monday after a computer system breakdown halted services for three days, the agency confirmed.
All public service divisions — including both one-day and normal NIC issuance — are now fully operational, Commissioner General Jagath Herath told NewsFirst. The department had limited services to the one-day channel only while technicians restored the system.
The outage began on April 17, when a sudden breakdown knocked out the department’s computer system, leaving applicants for new or replacement National Identity Cards without service during the Sinhala-Tamil New Year holiday period. Ada Derana reported that all affected services have now been restored following the completion of technical rectifications.
Herath said system upgrades and other maintenance required after the failure have also been completed.
The outage compounded disruption caused by an earlier impersonation scam, in which fraudsters used the department’s official hotline number to contact citizens and solicit personal and financial information. Authorities warned applicants against sharing Aadhaar-style documents, bank details, or payments over the phone, and the DRP physically closed its offices on April 17 while technical teams investigated.
The DRP handles the issuance of Sri Lanka’s mandatory National Identity Card, a document required for banking, employment, travel, and most government services. The system is also linked to downstream voter registration and welfare enrolment processes, making sustained outages a significant administrative bottleneck.
Applicants whose one-day or normal-service appointments were delayed between April 17 and 19 should contact the nearest DRP divisional office for rescheduling, the department said.
