12 Kolkata: The Election Commission on Monday issued a new directive to CEOs of all states regarding the protocol for removal of duplicate EPIC numbers. The CEOs have been asked to make amends by March 21 and send a compliance report to the commission.
EC's letter instructed CEOs that electoral registration officers (EROs) could make the amends and issue a fresh EPIC number to voters who have duplicate EPIC numbers. "Therefore, it has been decided to carry out a time-bound exercise to eliminate existing duplicate EPIC numbers by issuing a fresh EPIC number to one set of voters," it said.
Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee flagged the issue of duplicate EPIC numbers in early March after voters from two states were found to have identical EPIC numbers. Trinamool submitted a memorandum to EC for a unique EPIC number for all voters to maintain sanctity of the electoral process.
Bengal CEO Dibyendu Das said he had forwarded TMC's complaint to EC for necessary action.
The EROs would be given access through the EC website via a new module. Once they spot an EPIC number matching with another, these voters would be given a new EPIC number.
"The new EPIC number would be printed on the front of the EPIC, and the old EPIC number would also be reflected on the back of the EPIC," the EC directive added.