Every citizen has an NIC number for activities such as registering as a voter, voting in the general elections, paying taxes, opening a bank account, getting a utility connection (phone, cell phone, gas, electricity) purchasing or renting property, completing secondary education, acquiring higher education or applying for a job in most cases. However, since a majority of births in the country are not registered, and a large number of Pakistanis do not conduct any of the activities described above, most do not have ID cards. Obtaining an NIC card costs 100 rupees (US$1.66 - almost the average daily income), and this reduces the number of people who can afford it. In 2006, NADRA announced that it had issued 50 million CNIC (the C standing for Computerized) numbers, which is approximately one-third of the population. In June 2008, the federal government announced it would start issuing CNIC cards for free.