Updating Change of Address in Identity Cards

Mr David Ong asked the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Home Affairs (a) in the last three years, what is the number of cases of identity card holders who contravene the National Registration Act of not updating their residential addresses within 28 days; and (b) what can the Ministry do to increase enforcement, awareness and compliance to curb abuses.

Thank you. Madam, the National Registration Act requires NRIC holders to report any change in their place of residence to the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) or Police within 28 days of the change. Any change will also be reflected on their NRICs. This applies to both property owners and rental tenants. Failure to do so is an offence and punishable by a fine or imprisonment, or both. Over the past three years, 61 persons were convicted for failure to report a change of their place of residence, an offence typically committed in furtherance of other criminal offences.

Updated address records are necessary for Government agencies to get in touch with individuals for various purposes, including the registration of voters by the Elections Department and contact tracing in a disease outbreak situation. This applies to owners as well as rental tenants.

Similarly, owners or rental tenants should use their current address for commercial transactions, including obtaining a credit facility. A person who uses an outdated rental address when he is no longer staying at the location will not be traceable and will cause inconvenience to current residents of that address. If a tenant dishonestly uses an outdated

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address to secure a licensed loan, he can be punishable under the Penal Code. Police will also act firmly against borrowers who obtain unlicensed loans with their outdated addresses. Under section 28C of the Moneylenders Act, such borrowers may face imprisonment for up to a year.

To ensure that the change of address facility is not abused, including for criminal purposes, ICA requires the NRIC holder to show documentary proof that he is residing in the property before effecting the change.

ICA works with HDB to inform property owners during property sale transactions of the need for timely update of addresses. This legal requirement is also made known on ICA's and HDB's websites and disseminated through ICA's numerous outreach exhibitions.

Individuals who believe that their address has been wrongfully used should lodge a report with ICA or the Police so that the authorities can investigate the matter.

Dr Intan Azura Mokhtar (Ang Mo Kio) : I thank the Minister for the reply. Would the Ministry consider allowing rental tenants the option to use maybe post office box addresses or their next-of-kin's home address, with prior agreement, on their NRIC instead?

Mr S Iswaran : Madam, I thank the Member for her question and I appreciate the intent behind her question. But as I have stated, the address on the NRIC, as reflected in the records, serves very important purposes, whether it is in terms of enforcement or contact tracing and for a variety of other reasons. So, we need addresses that are current and that allow our enforcement and other agencies to take appropriate steps, especially when there are specific exigencies. So, a PO Box address or an NOK address does not really serve that purpose. Therefore, I think it would be something quite difficult for us to consider, based on our current provisions and laws.