DoTM to accept driving licence applications after Chhath

Kathmandu, October 26

The Department of Transport Management (DoTM) has informed that transport offices across the country will accept applications for driving licences only after Chhath.

The department had stopped accepting applications for driving licences before Dashain and was supposed to resume it after the festival. However, Gokarna Upadhyay, spokesperson for DoTM, informed that the department plans to accept new applications for driving licences only after Chhath while it will resume the vehicle retrial process before Tihar.

“Though we are planning not to accept applications for driving licences before Chhath, we will soon start the retrial,” said Upadhyay.

The DoTM has been time and again halting the vehicle trial citing technical issues. It had not accepted applications for driving licences in June for one-and-a-half months citing work pressure amid the end of the fiscal year.

Against the backdrop of limited capacity to print smart driving licence cards, DoTM is under pressure to issue smart driving licences as per demand. In fact, the department has not been able to issue smart driving licences to almost 600,000 service seekers who passed their vehicle trial examination months back.

Meanwhile, the government recently allowed Malika Incorporate, a private company, to print the smart driving licence cards in a bid to ensure the availability of sufficient number of smart driving licence cards and make sure that service seekers get their driving licences on time.

The private firm has been asked to print 500,000 smart cards within the next one-and-a-half months. “Once Malika Incorporate completes printing 500,000 smart driving cards, we will be able to issue all pending smart driving licences within two months,” informed Upadhyay.

Malika Incorporate is expected to print up to 5,000 smart driving cards every day through its 20 printers.

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