The government may revoke the first bid to supply 12 million "smart" identity cards to Thais, allegedly because of cost concerns.
A consortium of Chan Wanich-Axalto yesterday won the bidding to produce the ID cards, by quoting Bt1.346 billion against the reference price of Bt1.44 billion. But Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Minister Surapong Suebwonglee said later he |is unlikely to approve the |deal because the cost is still too high.
Surapong will make a final decision within the next few days after the "winning" price is officially submitted to him.
The minister's remark came as a surprise given that Nalikatibhag Sangsnit, the president of the panel hosting the e-auction to supply the cards, said yesterday that the winning price - of about Bt112 per card - is the cheapest in the world.
However, an IT-industry source said that the production cost could be below Bt100 per card if there were more groups tendering for the project.
At the start of the project, there were three bidders in the e-auction to supply the cards. Chan Wanich-Axalto and SSI-OCS (Oberthur Card System) qualified for the final round.
Chan Wanich-Axalto initially quoted Bt1.37 billion to win the deal against SSI-OCS's quote of Bt1.39 billion. After the talks with the e-auction panel, the consortium agreed to reduce the price to Bt1.346 billion.
Chan Wanich was founded more than70 years ago to provide printed paper, lottery tickets, passports and cheques. Axalto is a global provider of smart cards and point-of-sale terminals.
Some observers believe the government would like to delay the project, given there have been questions over the need for Thailand to spend heavily on the smart cards, plus the security relating to personal data included on them.
"It's possible that the ministry wants to delay the project to avoid criticism," the IT-industry source said.
The ICT Ministry has said it wants to enable all Thais to access state online services as part of its e-government plans to deploy IT power to enhance public services.
But several IT executives have questioned why the ministry has to rush the project when only a few companies have bid to make the cards.
An IT-industry observer said that production plans for the cards are also not in line with the proposal from the ICT Ministry's adviser, Gartner Group. It has said card issuance should be done in a highly secure place to allow easy monitoring against possible fraud.
The Cabinet said it is better to issue the cards at local district branches to allow Thais to apply and get the cards as quickly as possible.
Chan Wanich Security Printing's vice president Gijja Nophawan said the company took up the project to make a reference case of its business and pave the way for other similar projects in Thailand and overseas.
Chan Wanich is due to provide the plastic cards, while Axalto is to supply the operating system.
Quelle: The Nation, 23.03.2004
