Electricity bills required for residency/identity card renewal in Oman

This is a part of the upcoming ECensus 2020, where ROP is updating the personal databases of people living in Oman. “Every citizen and resident of the Sultanate must register and update his or her current address in the civil register system accompanied by the electricity bills for the property he or she owns or rents,” according to ROP.

An official from the ROP told Times of Oman that the Directorate General of Civil Status is working to make sure that people have updated their information, including their electricity bill number and their profession.

A spokesman from the ROP said in a statement sent to Times of Oman: “A citizen and resident’s information will be updated when the person asks for a new ID/residency card, renews it or any other services.

An official from Oman's ECensus 2020 office explained to Times of Oman that electricity bills should be also updated if you change your homes. “You can update your bill information at your distributor's website, their front desk, or their call centre,” an official said.


An expat living in Oman was recently asked to bring his electricity bill when he attempted to complete a renewal procedure for a residency card.

The expat told Times of Oman: “I had gone to complete the procedure and the officer at the civil services office told me that I needed to have a copy of my electricity bill with me."

“This was the first time I was asked for it, so I didn’t understand at first, but he explained that the bill number was required to get my procedure done. I went back to get the printout and brought it back to the office,” he added.

According to the official, this update includes six pieces of personal information and will ultimately prove beneficial for people in Oman, since the government will look at addresses to decide where to put new services such as schools or hospitals.

The official added: “The data that should be updated is: Current address, phone number, electricity bill number, educational level, workplace, profession, and the address of the workplace.

“Updating this information is vital because some authorities use information such as the current address and the demographics of people living in an area when they decide on development plans, and the ECensus project will also use this information as a reference in preparing statistics.

“The process of updating information in this way can be considered a partnership between citizens/ residents, and the ROP. Both of these two parties are needed for the process to run smoothly,” he added.

The official said: “The directorate general is ready to update all the information of citizens and residents whenever there is a piece of data that needs to be updated. Proper procedures have been set in place to make the process easy and quick.”