The Executive Secretary of the National Identification Authority (NIA), Yayra Koku, has announced that it is now an offence to photocopy or visually inspect the Ghana Card for the purpose of carrying out transactions, following the coming into force of an amendment to the National Identity Register Regulations.

According to him, “biometric verification is now MANDATORY,” signalling a shift from the long-standing practice of relying on physical inspection or photocopies of the national identity card.

In a Facebook post on Wednesday, Mr Koku warned that organisations that fail to comply with the new requirement commit an offence and face stiff sanctions under the law.

“An organisation that contravenes this order commits an offence and faces a fine of at least 500 penalty units and up to 2,000 units on summary conviction,” he wrote. He added that “individual penalty units range from 50 to 500.”

Mr Koku explained that the new legal regime follows “the maturity of the LI 2111 amendment, which was introduced in Parliament three months ago and gazetted today, Wednesday, July 15, 2026.”

He further disclosed that “the Honourable Minister in charge of the National Identification Authority will address the public in the coming days about the steps being taken to enforce this amendment.”

In the meantime, the NIA boss urged institutions that require identity verification services to begin integrating with the Authority’s verification system.

“You can apply to be onboarded onto the NIA Identity Verification Platform by sending an email to idverification@nia.gov.gh,” he said, emphasising that biometric verification is now the legally required method for verifying the identity of Ghana Card holders during transactions.