In Kathmandu, there’s a concerning issue with printing driver’s licenses, as there is a backlog of over 1.2 million licenses yet to be produced. The Transport Management Department has been facing significant delays in license printing for a year because the electronic chips required for the cards ran out, leading to a halt in printing since June of the previous year.
While daily exams for new license applicants continue, the government is currently only issuing licenses to those pursuing opportunities abroad due to a limited card supply. This has left many local drivers without licenses.
Ishwaridatta Paneru, the department’s spokesperson, explains that an agreement was signed three months ago with Germany’s Muehlbauer Company to supply 1.2 million cards. However, the delay occurred as the German company’s cards needed adaptation to work with India’s Madras Security Printers’ system, which manages the license database.
Despite completing all necessary procedures, the German company was given an 85-day timeline for card delivery approximately 25 days ago. The daily number of people passing license exams and renewing their licenses ranges from 3,000 to 5,000 nationwide. Unfortunately, the government has temporarily stopped the existing license printing machine.
To address the printing delay, the department has been issuing temporary licenses with QR codes that are valid for one year. However, even after the one-year period expires, the government has been unable to print the permanent licenses. This delay has caused inconvenience for numerous motorists.
Paneru emphasizes that they have requested the company they have an agreement with to supply at least 200,000 cards at a time, but it will take at least a month for these cards to arrive and resume regular printing.
Since the number of unprinted cards exceeds the current supply, the department is considering contracting the card supply in the next phase to address this ongoing issue.
