Gandaki Province
Delay in the distribution of smart driving licence affects service seekers
Applicants have been waiting for smart driving licences in Baglung for nearly two years.Prakash Baral
Mohanhari Koirala of Chitwan passed his driving test around a year and a half ago. Since then, he has been frequenting the Transport Management Office in Baglung to receive a smart driving licence. But he has not obtained the licence yet.
Basudev Acharya of Parbat passed his driving trial examination a year ago. For the past year, he has been riding his motorcycle carrying with him a receipt, as proof that he passed the examination and is in the process of getting a licence.
Like Koirala and Acharya, around a hundred people visit the Transport Management Office in Baglung to inquire about their digital driving licenses on a daily basis. But the office has no explanation as to why there is a delay in the distribution of smart driving licences.
According to the officials of the Transport Management Office, the Department of Transport Management, the government body that issues driving licences, has not sent the smart cards yet; however, it has already stopped the issuing of paper licences.
For the lack of a licence, service seekers are being compelled to laminate receipts and keep them as proof. “The Transport Management Office has cheated us,” said Ramesh Chhetri, a service seeker who has been waiting for the smart driving license for the last year and a half.
Paras Singh Thapa, chief at the Transport Management Office in Baglung, said that there are few machines to print the licence in the department. “There are too many service seekers. We have a difficult time attending to everyone regarding the licence,” says Thapa.
Two years ago, the then director of the department had announced to distribute smart driving licenses from all of the transport management offices across the country. As per the rule, service seekers have to obtain the smart licence within 45 days. But in the Transport Management Office in Baglung, service seekers have been waiting for licence for the last 21 months.