Agreement in extremis between government and managers: digital services for 41 million Italians guaranteed, but the era of gratuity may soon end
The Spid is except for another five years. The conventions between government and managers have been renewed at the last minute, with some commitments to make it evolve. It will therefore continue to accompany us in daily digital life, at least for now. But the increasingly paid passage is around the corner
SPID Salvo: Conventions signed for another 5 years
The agreement between associates (which brings together the main managers such as Poste, Aruba and Infocert), the agency for digital Italy and the Department for Digital Transformation has arrived when the countdown had now expired. Without a signature, the Spid could have definitively turned off on 9 October, leaving millions of citizens without access to the digital services of the Public Administration. The agreement, signed in extremis, guarantees the service, for at least another five years. The government unlocked 40 million euros foreseen by a 2023 decree to support management costs, but the managers ask for stable funds to maintain and update a system that today supports more than 41 million digital identities and over 1.2 billion of annual access. The agreement also includes a permanent table to find new security measures. Among the newly coming news there will be a tool to allow everyone to verify the active Spid associated with their own tax code. And the renewal of the conventions also provides for the objective of extending the Spid to professionals and legal persons.
SPID: from free service to the paid service
Spid except, therefore, but although born as a free tool to simplify access to public services, it could soon become paid. Some managers, such as Aruba, Infocert and Register.it, have already introduced rates for new users. Poste Italiane, the main supplier, continues to guarantee gratuity, but according to rumors, the public company is also evaluating the introduction of a small annual cost, around five euros. The risk, therefore, is that the Spid turns from public service accessible to everyone into a sort of digital subscription necessary to continue interacting with online bureaucracy. Economic sustainability remains a crucial node: the operations of the system requires continuous resources, both for data security and for integration with new European services. A question that concerns millions of Italians. Over 630 million accesses only in the first six months of 2025 and almost 90% of the connected population regularly uses the SPID, according to the Digital Identity Observatory of the Milan Polytechnic. In the future, however, Italian and European politics is clear. It focuses on Cie and It Wallet, the digital portfolio integrated in the app I who will be strengthened, also to harmonize with the future European digital wallet expected by 2026.
