The procedural and operational steps for the implementation of the National Address Law (Law No. 24 of 2017) have been completed and the law will be introduced soon, the Ministry of Interior (MoI) announced on Saturday.

In a press statement, the MoI said the law comes into effect as part of the strategic development of Qatar's e-government, the completion of the legislative structure for government's electronic transactions and the transition from descriptive address to the digital address system.

Lt Col Dr Abdullah Zayed al- Sahli, head of the National Address Section at Public Security, said the MoI has been working to complete the steps required for the implementation. “The process of registering the data of the national address for citizens and residents could be done through Metrash2 app or MoI service centres. An office will be allocated to facilitate the process of registering national address of the citizens. The National Address Section will be based in Onaizah Service Centre,” he said.

Lt Col al-Sahli explained that the registration procedures are easy and simple. “Every resident, whether a citizen or an expatriate, has to register his data in a simple form that includes the residential address , land phone number, mobile number, email, employer's address for government and private sector employees, and permanent address abroad, if any. A legal representative can also furnish the details on behalf of the resident. For minor children, the guardians have to register the data and they will be responsible for the legal transactions and the validity of the given data,” he said.

If any person fails to register the data within six months from the date of the commencement of the official registration process, he will be punishable under Article 6 of the National Address Act. Anyone who violates any of the provisions of Articles 3 and 4 will be fined an amount not exceeding QR10,000. Providing incorrect data knowingly will also draw a fine.

In the event of a change in the national address data , such information should be updated as per Article 4 of the Act. If the person does not notify the competent authority of the change or update it during the scheduled period, the given data will be considered as valid and productive for all legal proceedings as per Article 5 of the Act.

The MoI official stressed that the aim of maintaining a register of national address is to ensure access to residents in all matters of personal and official interest. This measure is also a qualitative leap in the conduct of judicial procedures.


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