Bulgaria’s judicial authorities plan to introduce electronic tagging of criminal offenders put under house arrest, a prison system official said on Tuesday.

Currently, the electronic monitoring devices are used to track the movement of convicts sentenced to prison terms and released on probation, Valentina Karaganova, head of the project, told Nova TV station on Tuesday.

According to Karaganova, law enforcement authorities currently have 67 electronic bracelets to monitor offenders, while a total of 180 are needed.

If a convicted criminal decides to leave his house, then his location can be easily tracked with the help of the electronic bracelet strapped around his ankle.  The device transmits a radio signal to a control centre 24 hours a day.

Justice Ministry officials told Nova TV the electronic bracelets are 99% reliable, adding the use of tagging devices is on the rise across the EU as a cheaper alternative to keeping convicts in prison.

The project was initiated by former Justice Minister Zinaida Zlatanova under the Norwegian Financial Mechanism which provides funding for countries in Southern and Eastern Europe and can be used in 32 program areas, from environmental protection to poverty alleviation.

Zlatanova has also said that electronic tagging is preferred to imprisonment for financial reasons. Keeping a convict in prison costs BGN 5 (EUR 2.5) per day, more than twice as much compared to BGN 2.25 for electronic tagging.

The total value of the two-year project is EUR 600,000.