LBEF RESEARCH JOURNAL OF SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY AND MANAGEMENT

Author(s):Karan Bahadur Bhat, Dr. Pradeep Karn

Abstract:The National Identity Card (NID) is digital identity card of Nepal, it contains demographic details with a biometric information of citizens. People use the card for various purpose such as business registration, passport issuance, involve in social security programme. The National Identity Card is issued to Nepali citizens aged 16 and above who are eligible to have Nepali citizenship. The card is issued and managed by the Department of National Identity and Civil Registration, which operates under the Ministry of Home Affairs. The National Identity Card system in Nepal encounters major implementation challenges because Nepalese citizens are not adopting the system easily and fear privacy breaches while lacking digital skills, understanding few benefits, facing technological deficiencies and doubting the government's data security measures. This study investigates the challenges impeding the adoption of Nepal's National Identity Card (NID) system, employing a mixed-methods research design to examine factors affecting citizen acceptance. Despite government efforts to implement this digital identification system, public adoption remains low, with only 8.8% of collected records for NID distributed to citizens as of report of DoNIDCR (2024). The research identifies digital literacy and perceived usefulness as the strongest predictors of acceptance, while accessibility and security concerns showed less significant impact. Analysis of data from 390 respondents revealed demographic variations in acceptance patterns, with urban, educated, and younger populations demonstrating higher adoption rates. Based on these findings, the study recommends targeted digital literacy programs, enhanced public awareness campaigns, infrastructure improvements, and trust-building measures to facilitate successful implementation. This research contributes to the growing body of literature on digital identity systems in developing nations while providing evidence-based strategies for policymakers to improve NID adoption in Nepal.

Keywords:National Identity Card (NID), digital literacy, technology acceptance, digital divide, digital identification, digital transformation