The Department of Transport Management has announced that embossed number plates will be made mandatory for all vehicles starting July 16.

While new vehicles imported from July 16 will be issued only embossed number plates , existing vehicles will be required to install the new number plates before applying for renewal of their registrations. This means the existing vehicles can wait until their respective vehicle registration renewal dates.

Transport entrepreneurs have criticized the decision as a desperate attempt of the government to raise revenue at a time when the entire country is reeling under the Covid-19 pandemic.

“After several rounds of discussions, we had decided to implement the embossed number plates system from January but that could not happen due to the Covid-19 pandemic. From next month it will be made compulsory for all types of vehicles,” said Namaraj Ghimire, director general at the department.

He said around 1,900 vehicles including government vehicles already have embossed number plates. Government agencies own an estimated 40,000 vehicles. “Within two and a half years we will install embossed number plates on all 2.5 million vehicles in the country,” said Ghimire.

An embossed number plate is camera-readable and contains a microchip, which is connected to the vehicle’s GPS system so that the vehicle can be located in the event of theft or accident. It also helps prevent number plate duplication.

However, the Federation of Nepalese National Transport Entrepreneurs has criticised the government's new decision as impractical and accused the government of trying to collect revenue from vehicle operators who are already facing huge losses due to the pandemic-induced restrictions.

“The government has not notified us of its new decision. The government is only interested in collecting revenue,” said Yogendra Karmacharya, chairman of the federation. “One can make a hand-painted number plate by paying Rs 100 but they charge a huge amount for the new number plates. How can we pay such sums when we have been forced to keep our vehicles off the road for a long time now,” argued Karmacharya.

For an embossed number plate, the department charges two wheelers Rs 2,500; three-wheelers (tempos) Rs 2,900; light four-wheelers including car, jeep, van and tractor Rs 3,200; and heavy vehicles Rs 3,600.

There are around 300 transport organisations under the federation across the country. The federation oversees the operation of around 400,000 public vehicles. Karmacharya even wondered how can the department issue embossed number plates when the names of Province 1 and Province 2 are still undecided. Until now the government has finalized the names of five provinces only—Bagmati, Gandaki, Lumbini, Karnali and Sudurpaschim.

“We also oppose the use of English alphabets on the embossed number plate. They should use the Devanagari script,” said Karmacharya.

In late 2017, the government had begun the process to distribute embossed number plates to vehicles on the basis of provincial structure against the existing zonal format. Later, in February 2018, the Supreme Court issued an interim order to stop issuing embossed number plates. A single bench of Chief Justice Gopal Prasad Parajuli had issued an interim order in response to a petition filed by environmentalist Bharat Basnet. In the petition, Basnet had demanded that Devanagari font be used on the number plates. He had also stated that the chip on the number plates could be used for spying and breaching national security.

But on December 23, 2019, the Supreme Court vacated its stay order paving the way for the resumption of embossed number plates distribution. “Two years ago the court already paved the way for implementing the embossed number system, so we will start enforcing it from mid-July,” said Director General, Ghimire.

“Some people may protest but this is the most scientific way to regulate vehicles,” he added.