The Department of Transport Management on Monday resumed driving licence renewal and related services nearly two months after an arson brought operations to a standstill.

According to Keshav Khatiwada, director of the department, services have restarted in 21 of the country’s 42 transport management offices. “Five more offices are in the process of resuming the services soon. We have started with partial services and will expand gradually,” Khatiwada said.

He said that some offices would take longer to reopen due to extensive damage caused by the arson. “Offices in Pokhara, Itahari, Lahan, Butwal, Dhangadhi, Dang and Chitwan were badly damaged, so services there cannot begin immediately,” he said.

The department has not yet reopened applications for new driving licences. On regular days, around 6,000 to 7,000 people across all provinces used to apply for new licences, and about 4,000 to 5,000 of them would pass the trial tests. “New licence applications will be accepted only after all offices are operational,” Khatiwada said. “We are planning to open applications province-wise and set specific timelines accordingly.”

The fire had also destroyed the department’s data centre, disrupting digital services, including those linked to the Nagarik App. Khatiwada said citizens will be able to access their digital licences through the app again from Tuesday as the system restoration nears completion.

Meanwhile, repair and maintenance work is ongoing at the department’s main building in Minbhawan, which was destroyed in the fire. Officials are currently working from makeshift setups, including desks and benches set up in the waiting area.

Out of the 2.5 million licences pending for printing, the department is preparing to print 1.2 million within the next six months. This follows an agreement signed on Thursday between the department and the Security Printing Centre. “The printing centre will start the process within a few days and deliver the printed licences to us gradually,” Khatiwada said.

For those requiring licences urgently, such as people leaving for foreign employment, the department has arranged for the printing centre to issue them directly upon application. Previously, the department printed around 500 urgent licences daily.

The fire also destroyed the department’s licence printing machines, halting the in-house printing service. Until new machines are purchased, the Security Printing Centre will handle all printing work.

Preliminary estimates suggest that out of 22,000 printed licences ready for distribution at the time of the fire, around 18,000 were destroyed. Only about 3,000 cards were recovered intact.

“The system is gradually being restored, and we will move to full service once everything is stable,” Khatiwda said.