How to use the electronic identity card

In the past two years, over 190 citizens have applied for a new electronic identity card (eLK). In the meantime, some state institutions have rounded up the services they offer online, so citizens and the economy can now start and finish them completely online.

In the coming days, as announced by the Ministry of Public Administration, Digital Society and Media (MJU), it will be possible to pay administrative fees and fees for some services online on the e-government portal (euprava.me). Experience with citizens, however, also indicates that not everyone is aware of what the new identity card contains and enables, as well as they are not sure what it contains or what the envelope they receive after picking up the new identity documents is for.

On the basis of the Law on Amendments to the Law on Identity Cards, the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) was supposed to start issuing electronic identity cards on March 30, 2020. However, it was postponed until the summer of the same year, in order to prevent the spread of the coronavirus epidemic.

When the issuance of eLK started, until April 13, as the Ministry of Interior and the Ministry of Justice told "Vijesta", the number of Montenegrin citizens who applied for the replacement of an ID card, that is, who applied for the issuance of an electronic ID card, was 192.835.

Keep the envelope that comes with the eLK

When a citizen receives the eLK, he receives a security envelope along with the new identity document. That envelope contains instructions for use, initial code and unique codes.

The Department of Internal Affairs explains that these codes are also the access data for activating the certificate on the electronic identity card, which is why it is necessary to save the contents of the received envelope.

"Without the specified access data, the citizen will not be able to activate the certificates that are contained in the electronic identity card, and in order to use them," added "Vijesti" interlocutors from the Department of Public Administration and Internal Affairs.

In addition to the envelope with the access data, when the citizen receives the electronic ID card, he also receives a confirmation of the determination of the identification number. This number can be compared to the unique identity number - it is unique for every citizen, it is determined only once - by official duty or at the request of the citizen.

The confirmation of determination of the identification number, as they said from the Department of Internal Affairs, has the importance of a public document, serves as proof of the identification number and is issued without a validity period.

"If the certificate is alienated, lost, damaged or otherwise lost, the person to whom the certificate was issued will notify the Ministry and request the issuance of a new certificate," said the Ministry of Interior.

The identification number is now located on the chip of the electronic ID card, while the JMB is still visible and is located on the document itself. From the department of internal affairs, they said that the goal is for the identification number to "replace the unique identity number in some regular procedure".

"In order to avoid numerous possible abuses and to ensure that the unique identity number remains protected... Bearing in mind that all developed democratic countries use some variant of the identification number, the introduction of the same reduces the administrative burden for citizens, and given that it enables electronic identification for the use of electronic services, and thus safer procedures in the fields of electronic business, electronic commerce, payment systems, commerce and the like. In this way, the unique identity number of the person will be protected at the same time, given that the identification number, unlike the unique identity number, does not contain the personal data of the owner of the certificate for a qualified electronic signature, that is, it does not reveal any information about him". they told "Vijesta".

Whether and why to activate eLK

After issuing a new electronic identity card, citizens can use that identity document as before - for identification in the physical world. However, it is possible to activate the electronic ID, and then it can be used to prove identity in the online and digital space, and it is also possible for citizens to digitally sign documents using it.

"Unlike the still valid identity card, which contains personal data (which are laser engraved and visible on the identity card), biometric and other data, the new eLK also contains certificates - a certificate for electronic identification and a certificate for a qualified electronic signature. The purpose of the certificate for electronic identification is the use of personal identification data in electronic form that unambiguously determine a legal entity, a natural person or a natural person in the capacity of a registered entity, i.e. its primary purpose is to prove identity when using available electronic services", the interlocutors of "Vijesti" from the MUP explain and MJU.

In this sense, as they said, eLK has the same purpose as visual identification.

"The certificate for a qualified electronic signature is used for signing digitally and has the same legal force as a handwritten signature, from which it follows that many administrative and other obligations can be performed digitally, i.e. electronically, with a note that a qualified electronic signature is valid only in digital format," they said. "News".

In order for citizens to be able to use the certificate for electronic identification and the certificate for qualified electronic signature in eLK, and therefore the available web services, it is necessary to activate these certificates after downloading eLK.

"Activation refers exclusively to the certificates found in the identity card, and not to the identity card itself", explained the Ministry of Interior, adding that the activation of eLK is not necessary for the usual use of LK - proving identity in the physical world, crossing the border where it is provided with LK...

In order to activate the ID card, i.e. the use of digital certificates, it is necessary to have a computer, a smart card reader (contact or contactless) and installed software for using the ID card. The software is available for free at https://ca.elk.gov.me.

After installing the software, the user can access the certificate activation. Activation is done by inserting the eLK into the smart card reader. The reader can be part of the computer or purchased separately and connected to the computer.

After inserting the eLK into the reader, and with the previously downloaded ID Protect software package from the website https://ca.elk.gov.me, the user enters the PIN (data specified in the envelope, which is provided with the eLK).

"Thus, the certificates in the electronic identity card are activated and they can be used", explained the Ministry of Interior.

They also add that in order to protect and secure the data contained in the envelope, officers in the MUP branches cannot activate certificates for citizens.

"Because that way they would come into possession of the said data. Officials of this Ministry provide all the necessary information to citizens, in order to explain the procedures, while the contact phone number of this Ministry is available to citizens, where they can get information and get an explanation for any doubts regarding the activation of the certificate", they state from that department.

Citizens who want to buy a reader can get that device in stores selling digital equipment.

The MUP and the Ministry of Justice clarify that the device is not personalized and that it can be used by several people.

"Which means that one reader is enough for one household or collective", they add.

The price of the reader at the Post Office of Montenegro was about 13 euros. In order to provide e-readers to as many citizens as possible, the MUP and MJU, as they said, launched an initiative to award free devices.

"We are in negotiations with potential donors, so we expect that in the coming period we will also provide this benefit for citizens", they told "Vijesti", adding that they will later inform the public about the details and criteria for awarding free readers.

For individuals, more than 50 e-services with the new LK

The new electronic identity card has been used as a health card for more than a year. In order for this to be possible, citizens who are insured with the Health Insurance Fund (FZO) eLK must register at one of the Fund's branches. Citizens who have not activated eLK in FZO can certainly still use their health cards. Those who activated eLK as a booklet, when accessing the eZdravlje.me service, now use the number of the new LK.

The MJU said that, in addition, integration of eLK with the e-government portal has been ensured, so citizens can use all electronic services that require a higher level of identification on that portal with the new electronic identity card. This, as they said, increased the level of secure access to e-services.

"There are currently 99 electronic services available, of which 55 are electronic services for natural persons that can be used through the new eLK, while for some they will be able to pay an administrative fee/fee electronically," said the department.

Among the services that can be used with eLK and for which, if provided for, the fee can also be paid online, are requests for the submission of data from misdemeanor and criminal records for natural persons, requests for applying for professional exams for work in state bodies, requests for issuance of a certificate of settled obligations based on public revenues, request for the issuance of a certificate of residency for tax purposes, request for the issuance of a certificate of settled obligations based on public revenues (exempted from payment), request for the issuance of a certificate of the amount of income, request for the issuance of a certificate of the amount of income (exempted from payment) and a request for refund of overpaid contribution for pension and disability insurance.

"At this moment, we are actively working on the implementation of certain services in cooperation with a large number of state administration bodies and the Capital City, which are recognized as priority services through the project 'eServices and digital infrastructure as a response measure to covid-19'. Namely, birth registration and death registration are in the implementation phase, where the Clinical Center automatically registers births and deaths according to the MUP. In this way, we shorten administrative procedures and speed up the work of public administration. Of course, the municipalities will be able to access the implemented system and use this service so that they too have information about birth registration, with the ultimate goal that parents do not bring certificates in order to obtain compensation for the birth of a child and gift packages", the MJU explained.

New personal and e-services of the Capital City

Electronic registration of marriage and online payment of property tax for the capital are electronic services that are expected in the near future and that will be able to be used with the new eLK, told "Vijesta" from MJU.

They also add that the application solution that will be made for the capital, in later stages, can be used for other Montenegrin municipalities as well.

"In this way, we are moving towards a uniform solution and we want to ensure the continuous development of all municipalities, so as to avoid a large disparity when it comes to digital development at the municipal level. In general, all future e-services for citizens will be able to be used with the new eLK, while for certain e-services it will be a mandatory level of identification", they told "Vijesta".

Everything about eLK at one web address

All relevant information about the electronic identity card and links related to the activation and use of the new identity card are also available on the official page that was specially created on the web portal of the Government of Montenegro. https://ca.elk.gov.me. It was suggested to the authorities that they maybe simplify that address into something like elk.me, licnakarta.me... so that it would be easier to remember.

"This website is the central place for the ID card promotion campaign, because citizens are shown in an intuitive way how to activate the ID card, details about the eLK itself and its content, the legal framework by which the eLK is organized, as well as the most frequently asked questions with answers on this topic ", explained from the MUP and the Ministry of Justice.

On the same website, there are also links to the available electronic services that citizens can use by using an activated ID card, and through the same website, citizens can provide feedback on the experience they had when using the new ID card, eLK activation and available e- service.

"We will carefully consider the possibilities of responding to the submitted comments in terms of further improvement... because our ultimate goal is that the e-services we create are fully adapted to the needs of citizens", said the Ministry of Interior and the Ministry of Justice, adding that in that sense, they are already working on simplifying the eLK activation process and the digital certificates that are an integral part of it.

"If citizens have certain difficulties when activating their ID card and downloading software applications, as well as when using the available e-services with an electronic ID card, technical support is provided through call centers with contact phones in front of the MUP and the Ministry of Justice.

The fee for issuing an eLK is five euros. Certificates on that personal document are free. The deadline for replacing old ID cards is until April 2025.

Online tax payment is convenient for citizens, better financial control for the state

In the coming days, the MJU will allow citizens and businesses to pay the administrative fees and charges for some services online.

Among the first services for which it will be possible to pay the fee without going to the counter are services under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Justice, Human and Minority Rights - requests for the submission of data from criminal records and for the submission of data from misdemeanor records for natural persons.

The Ministry of Justice said that citizens will be exempted from paying the commission, and that, in accordance with the Regulation on detailed conditions and methods of payment of administrative fees electronically, the commission is paid from the state budget.

"Replicating this functionality to other services is technically very simple, and we hope that its application will meet with a massive response from the public administration bodies that are the owners of electronic services, which include the collection of administrative fees and fees", they told "Vijesta".

Clarifying the reasons for introducing the possibility of online payment of fees and fees, among other things, the Ministry of Justice said that they are aware "that the largest number of abuses was committed in the previous period precisely with the submitted copied payment slips".

Paying fees and charges online, they said, will help overcome some of the shortcomings and difficulties in the traditional billing model.

"In general, the shortcomings of the current billing regime do not allow citizens the 'comfort' that provides e-services and opens up opportunities for abuses, as a result of which the regular fiscal revenues of the state are reduced," said the Ministry of Justice.

Online NGO registration, insight into voting rights, statements...

The MUP said that preparations are underway for the implementation of new e-services which, they claim, can be expected within the year. Among the new e-services are NGO registration, employment in the public administration, education, eBusiness, which should improve the process of public procurement, space planning and construction of facilities, personal documents...

They also said that during 2021 and 2022, the MUP worked intensively on establishing new e-services that will require the use of eLK, i.e. certificates contained in the identity card.

Thus, by using the certificate from eLK, without going to the counter on the Internet, it will be possible to inspect the personal data that are kept for adult citizens and their minor children in the registers that are under the responsibility of the MUP. Citizens will also be able to inspect the voter list, along with eLK and certificates online, they will be able to submit a request for themselves and their minor children to change their address of residence, issue and deliver a certificate of citizenship, issue and deliver an extract from the birth register, a certificate of residence . In addition, it will be possible for you and your minor children to review the status of active requests submitted to the MUP.

As they announced, the Ministry of Interior will, in the coming period, work on improving and expanding existing e-services, and possibly introducing new ones.

It has not been clarified how the previously available services dokumenta.me (for ordering statements...) and biraci.me will continue to function.

Anyone who loses their PIN/PUK must get a new personal one

In the event that a citizen loses the envelope and access data obtained when downloading the eLK, and wants to use the certificates found on the new ID, he must submit a request to the MUP for a replacement of the electronic ID, said the department.

"MUP does not keep records of issued access data, i.e. initial codes, PIN and PUK codes, i.e. it does not keep them and is not in their possession... In this regard, it is not possible to issue or reissue access data without a previously submitted request to replace the eLK", they told "Vijesti", noting that the activation of the ID card refers only to the certificates found in the ID card, and not to the ID card itself.

They also note that the request for issuing a new eLK must be submitted even if the certificates were previously activated, but the user of the personal document forgot/lost them.

"Regardless of whether the certificates were previously activated or not, if a citizen loses or forgets his access data, he must submit a request to replace the eLK, if he wants to use the certificates," explained the Ministry of Interior.

192.835

applications for the issuance of an electronic ID card have been submitted since the beginning of the application of the Law on the new ID card in March 2020.