The Czech Republic is making strides in digital transformation as the police force now accepts digital ID cards through the eDoklady mobile application. Since April, officers in the field have begun accepting these digital ID cards, allowing citizens to leave their plastic cards at home. This is an extension of a policy implemented in January for driving licenses.
Martin Mesršmíd, Director of the Digital and Information Agency, which oversees the eDoklady initiative, has lauded the police’s move to accept digital ID cards. “The police acted before the law required them to, for which we are very grateful,” said Mesršmíd. While the law stipulates that the police must accept eDoklady starting in July, they had previously announced their readiness in April.
All patrol units are equipped with smartphones and the necessary applications for verification. The acceptance of electronic ID cards in April was confirmed by police spokesperson Ondřej Moravčík, who stated that the system operates without any problems.
However, citizens are advised not to discard their plastic cards just yet. They could still prove useful, especially in minor accident situations where it’s not necessary to call the police but an accident report needs to be filled out for insurance purposes. In such cases, a picture of the ID card taken on a mobile device should suffice.
The police are not the only ones making digital advances. The Digital and Information Agency also plans to launch a mobile version of the Citizen’s Portal by mid-month. The portal, which currently has over 1.2 million users, offers a wide array of over 600 services, including submitting tax returns, generating extracts from the criminal register, the cadastre of real estate, and driver’s point evaluations. The mobile application will offer all these services and allow users to receive notifications about changes directly on their mobile devices.