ID cards in a new form have not been granted across Hanoi on April 1 as scheduled, as most relevant police units have yet to be equipped with necessary photography equipment, a senior police official said Monday.

Only three police units in the capital began granting new ID cards to local residents on Tuesday, Major General Tran Van Ve, deputy director of a police general department under the Ministry of Public Security, said.

The granting will be postponed in all other police units until they are provided with proper equipment, Ve added.

Examinations made earlier at police units in charge of issuing new ID cards have showed that most of them have yet to be equipped with a proper lighting system and camera tripods essential for taking pictures in accordance with new standards, the major general explained.

If these units photograph ID card applicants using their current facilities, the photos will blur and thus not meet the required benchmarks, the official said.

All those police units will be supplied with a proper lighting system and camera tripods soon, Ve added.

After Hanoi, the new cards will be granted in 15 other localities, including Hai Phong, Thai Binh, Hai Duong, Hung Yen, Ha Nam, Vinh Phuc, Thanh Hoa, Ninh Binh, Nam Dinh, Ho Chi Minh City, and Can Tho, in 2014. It is expected that all the other provinces and cities will put the new ID cards in use in 2016-2017, Major General Ve said.

The new IDs will be issued to citizens when they are 14 years old.

Each card in the new template has 12 digits, instead of only nine in current versions, and a 2D bar code that stores personal identification details, including fingerprints to be taken by a laser device rather than printed in black ink as at present.

The 12-digit personal identification number will be issued to an individual for lifetime use when his or her birth registration is completed.

The new IDs will have a use term of 15 years, but for people 55 years old or above, the term is indefinite, the major general said.