CPR renewal - old address confusion, Municipality putting huge fine

Well I have been warning people of this exact issue.  Since the end of 2018 and the beginning of 2019, enforcement in all government departments has been stepped up e.g. LMRA inspections, municipality checks etc etc.  They have even closed loopholes e.g. EWA is now linked to MOIC systems and LMRA systems.  This is in part due to the new people in many government ministries as well as abuse of the system by the general public.

See this thread from last year where I was warning a guy to be careful about addresses for this very reason - and as you can see, he was abusing it heavily:

https://www.expat.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=822765

And yes, there are many other cases happening like this.

Now there are some things that you need to understand:

1) On CPR renewal / replacement / new issue, proof of address is a MUST irrespective of whether you are at same address or another. This proof is in the form of a municipality letter (given on production of a lease) or NOC from landlord or EWA bill in your name
2) You may not have updated your CPR for a long time but when you renew, it is assumed that you will provide your latest correct address.  Why?  because when your CPR is valid; you may change jobs or addresses hundreds of times and no one will bother to push you to update.  The renewal or replacement process (in case of lost card) is supposed to force you to do that
3) If your PRO put your "old" address then yes, it could be seen as intentionally providing a false address.  You, personally, as it is your identity card, are liable for ensuring that all the data on your CPR is correct. It doesn't matter if the PRO used his contacts to keep the old address without providing any documents - the fact that the old address remained on the renewed CPR leads to the assumption that "proof" was provided

Now, where I am not clear is the sequence of events and to enable me to answer properly, I need to understand the following:

1) What address was put on the CPR at the time of renewal, old or temporary?
2) What address is on the CPR now?
3) What did your landlord say exactly? i.e. what is the problem with the municipality, what did they say to him etc?  how did they find out?  was it another tenant who went to them?
4) Who is the municipality levying the fine on?  did you get any official communication from them?

If I were to guess, what has happened is that someone else has tried to register the same address on their CPR which automatically flags an error in the CIO system.  This is not an issue if the person registering is the tenant and the landlord has the address under his name.  But if another tenant who is not the landlord has the address under his name, then it is a problem.   Nowadays, they send the person trying to register the address back to the municipality and their reaction is as above.   

Anyway, you need to get the CPR updated to your current address irrespective of anything.   And secondly, if the municipality hasn't accused you of anything, the issue is between them and your landlord.   Either way, as I mentioned above, I need more details to make sense of the situation.  And your PRO should help you as he got you into this mess to begin with!!!!.

Thanks for the detailed post on this XTang.

Hi XTang,

First of all, many thanks for such a detailed reply. It's very helpful. Unfortunately, like many others, I had no clue that such kind of things were happening until I came across this issue.

Regarding your queries, see my responses below:

1) What address was put on the CPR at the time of renewal, old or temporary?
At the time of appointment, he attempted with old address (where we are facing issue with Municipality). when he went to the office physically, they asked him for proof, so he put the temporary address.

2) What address is on the CPR now?
CPR when updated it got the temporary address and not the old address.

3) What did your landlord say exactly? i.e. what is the problem with the municipality,
what did they say to him etc?  how did they find out?  was it another tenant who went to them?
Landlord is responsible to pay the municipality and that's why he got the bill in his name. The property is tenanted at the moment and the new tenant is living there since I left it.

4) Who is the municipality levying the fine on?  did you get any official communication from them?
No, I did not get anything in writing. It was my ex-landlord, he called me and told me the issue. So the matter is between him & the municipality.

Ah ok clear now.  He put the old address in the EMS system and went to CIO to get the chip updated.  They asked for proof and so he changed the address.

Either way, it is between your landlord and municipality. 

I think the landlord is just trying to get some money from you.  It could be anything really e.g. your previous lease maybe wasn't registered with the municipality but now with the systems being linked with EWA, they found out and hit him with the unpaid housing fee etc.   But it has nothing to do with you now as you updated the address as required.

Thanks mate, that's helpful note!
Many thanks again!

mr xtang
another question just gor your advise you cannot also renew yoyr wifes cpr as she is not on any lease agreement as a husband you take care of this.why should your wife leaVe the country  when she has a vise.
what a cock up system  here
if the bahrains didnt get cought stealing from the goverment then things would be easier.

You can renew your wife's CPR easily if:

1) You have a lease agreement under you name with a municipality letter or an EWA account
2) She is under your sponsorship or you have an attested marriage certificate

I am not clear on what is the background of the issue you are facing?  if you could give details, I would be able to advise much better.

Hi..
I'm a single working lady. Recently I changed my job. The new employer is asking me address proof to update my cpr. The flat I'm sharing is under the lease of a third person. Ewa is also under same name. It is not possible to take his consent. Employer is saying that if I'm not able to get the address proof then I'll have to change my accommodation. I am not willing to leave this flat either. Kindly guide me.
Thanks in advance

Without taking NOC, without having lease and without EWA, no chance.

Try and get NOC for some other flat from a relative or close friend and put that address on your cpr.

Thank you Mr. Xtang for you advice..
But if the employer finds out that I'm not staying on given address, will there be any issues?
Also I heard that a man cannot give NOC to a single lady. Is that true?