Real-name verification is to be realized through a mobile app, reports NetEase Tech on Tuesday.
“We will launch a mobile app within a year and introduce regulation for real-name verification on deliveries within the first quarter,” said Liu Jun, Deputy Director of China’s State Post Bureau on Monday.
According to Liu, users will have to download an app and register with their IDs and phone numbers. Delivery people will then need to scan an app-generated QR code for real-name verification to be completed.
At the same time, the government is to equip large mail processing centers with security inspection devices. The process of parcels going through an X-ray machine is to be shortened.
The mobile app and free X-ray machines have been introduced to solve some of the problems that have emerged from enforcing tightened security, following the introduction of real-name registration for deliveries last November.
The authorities have been tightening postal security since last October. Two other requirements mandated by authorities include having packages inspected before sealing, and having parcels inspected by X-ray at both departure and arrival.
But it is taking time to enforce these new practices in China – the largest express delivery market in the world with 20 billion parcels delivered in 2015. Earlier reports point to problems at both the customer side and the courier company side, emerging as a result of the new requirements.
According to Beijing Business Today, some courier companies are concerned that verifying sender identification for every parcel will significantly slow down the parcel-handling process and cause delays for deliveries.
In addition, there is currently no unified system for verifying identities, and courier companies worry that costs will go up since ID card scanners and X-ray machines will need to be procured.
Customers have been found to be unwilling to furnish their IDs, with many concerned that their personal information, including addresses, and phone numbers, will fall into the wrong hands.
(Top photo from Baidu)
