HÀ NỘI — Hà Nội is working on gradually digitising the household registration books of over 7.6 million residents, a move to simplify administrative procedures related to residence management.

Citizens will be managed solely through their identification numbers on a new online national database. Personal transactions will be performed solely through the national identification (NI) number and all changes to personal information will be updated on the national database and recorded alongside each person’s NI number.

Each citizen will be issued with a new identity card and a 12-digit NI number, which incorporates all basic personal information, some of which is currently recorded in household registration books.

The new ID card will include information such as name, place of birth, fingerprints, permanent address, marital status, and all data relating to births, deaths, number of children and criminal convictions.

Three districts including Hai Bà Trưng, Nam Từ Liêm and Long Biên have implemented e-citizen databases.

The remaining 27 urban districts, wards and communes in the city are reviewing existing household registration books to prepare for the digitisation process.

Hà Nội is also applying information technology widely in the registration and management of citizens’ information.

Deputy Director of the Hà Nội Department of Justice Phạm Thanh Cao said that one of the highlights in the implementation of Civil Law in the city was Hà Nội’s focus on the application of information technology in the registration and management of civil status.

This has helped make it more convenient for citizens to deal with administrative procedures, reduce inefficiency and create favourable conditions for civil servants to perform their duties, he said at a conference to review the three-year implementation of the Law on Civil Status held by the Hà Nội People’s Committee on Thursday.

At present, all commune-level agencies in Hà Nội have adopted online birth registration systems, Cao said.

In the first nine months of this year, over 260,000 records related to residence books were moved online.

Locals in the capital city can access administrative procedures online, including registering a birth, death or marriage, and certifying copied documents in Vietnamese. 

The move was considered a breakthrough in Hà Nội’s administrative reform towards a simplified and transparent administration, said Cao.

However, the registration and management of civil status in the locality also revealed some inadequacies.

At the conference, the justice deputy director also proposed amendments and supplements to the regulations in the Law on Civil Status in order to improve efficiency of the implementation of the civil status legislation. — VNS