The government will start using a digital ID card through a mobile application on Jan 10 for people who use public services provided by government agencies.
The digital ID will apply to agencies under the Internal Affairs Ministry first and then expanded to other government and private agencies, such as commercial banks, deputy government spokeswoman Traisuree Taisaranakul said on Monday.
This policy will mainly follow Section 14 of the Digital Public Service Act, focusing on using digital ID instead of physical documents.
People wanting to use any public service are required to register using their actual ID cards with their district office's registry division to get access to D.Dopa, the mobile application developed for the Department of Provincial Administration.
To complete registration, they will be required to accept the terms and conditions, scan a QR code for a two-factor authentication setting, and fill out a Personal Data Protection Act consent form, Miss Traisuree said.
"We will open for online registration later when the system is stable," she added.
The Department of Provincial Administration had sent a notification regarding Section 14 to every provincial office and the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration telling their officials cannot deny someone services when presented with an electronic ID, said Ms Traisuree.
According to the Ministry of Digital Economy and Society (DES), digital ID promises to be safer than using the smart ID card, as stealing data will be more difficult.
The DES, through the Electronic Transactions Development Agency (ETDA), set the first phase of the digital ID framework from 2022 to 2024 to encourage the use of digital ID cards.
At least 10 million people are expected to replace their physical ID card with the digital version this year, the DES said.