Public Security Minister Tiran Alles has decided to suspend the Expression of Interest (EOI) with regard to the issuance of electronic passports or ‘e-passport’ and call for Tenders.

The Ministry says that Cabinet approval has been granted for a paper tabled by Minister Alles to appoint a special technical evaluation committee for the related matter and to call for a new Tender to issue ‘e-passport’ considering the current economic situation.

EOIs were initially called for the issuing of ‘e-passports’ and many applicants had complained to the Ministry of certain technical difficulties in the process.

Accordingly, Minister Alles has canceled the call for bids for EOI and decided to call for Tenders through the normal procurement process.Meanwhile, a senior official of the Ministry said that over 700,000 e-passports should be issued during a year, which will cost around USD 15 million.

The official added that millions of USD had to be spent on the machines used to issue the passports and that the issuance of e-passports has also become difficult due to the high cost.