On March 5, Nirmal Gaihre posted a review of the Nagarik App on the Google Play Store, questioning the app’s worth. “I am very disappointed with the Nagarik App,” Gaihre wrote. “If digital documents cannot be used for official verification without showing a physical citizenship card, national ID, or passport, then what is the real purpose of this platform?”

Gaihre’s review reflects a frustration shared by many users of Nepal’s digital identity platform. Many cite technical glitches and login issues. But the most frequent complaint is simpler: even with verified documents in the app, institutions still demand physical copies.

The Nagarik App, developed by the Department of Information Technology under the Ministry of Communication and Information Technology, was designed as a single digital platform for storing and using official documents—citizenship certificates, driving licences, PAN cards and voter IDs.

But even as the app can verify identities in real time, many banks, hospitals and government offices still require physical copies, exposing a gap between Nepal’s digital ambitions and the legal and institutional systems that govern everyday transactions.

Yet in some sectors, the shift has already begun.

Traffic police across Kathmandu now verify driving licences through the app, scanning QR codes instead of inspecting laminated cards. At the Koteshwar Police Station, officials say the system has streamlined enforcement and reduced paperwork.

“It’s been more than a year since we allowed riders to use digital ID,” said Sujan Magar, a traffic policeman. “Vehicle taxes can be checked and paid directly from the app, and traffic fines are issued digitally through the e-Chalan system.”

Magar said the system has also improved transparency.

“Earlier, some officers could charge extra. Now that’s not possible,’’ he said. ‘’It also reduces delays and face-to-face friction.”

Such examples show what is possible when systems are aligned but they remain exceptions. The contrast underscores a broader challenge in Nepal’s push toward digital governance: interoperability.

Officials say the technology behind the Nagarik App is capable of supporting digital verification across agencies, but legal mandates and institutional readiness vary.

“There is a Digital Nepal Framework 2.0, and the Good Governance Regulations also have provisions for this,” said Shree Chandra Shah, director general of the Department of Information Technology. “Based on those, there shouldn’t be difficulties.

He pointed to the Inland Revenue Department (IRD), which allows taxpayers to verify identity and pay taxes through the app, services that once required multiple office visits.

According to Shah, the system embedded in the app allows service providers to verify government-issued documents digitally, but individual agencies may still be bound by laws to ask for physical documents.

“It should work because the system is there in the Nagarik App,” he said. “The regulations and guidelines say it can be used for official purposes, including at banks, hospitals and government offices. Everyone is supposed to act according to those regulations.”

However, the Department of Information Technology does not have enforcement authority when agencies refuse to accept digital IDs.

“There are certain guidelines and we aren’t in a position to take direct action,” Shah said. “We can only act according to what is provisioned in the Act.”

He added that old laws still stand in the way.

“Regulations cannot override an Act,” Shah explained. “If an existing law requires a physical citizenship card, that cannot be bypassed until the Act is amended.”

In practice, that means digital systems can advance faster than the laws that govern them.

While broader legislation encourages the use of information technology, older laws continue to anchor many institutions to paper-based verification.

Adoption, Shah said, depends on three factors: citizen demand, service provider’s readiness and system integration. Progress in areas like traffic enforcement and tax services shows what is possible when those elements align.

Shah described adoption as a gradual process that depends on both citizens and service providers.

Project officials also emphasise that the app was initially designed for digital service delivery–not as a blanket replacement for physical documents.

“In reality, the Nagarik App is primarily for digital operations,” said Santosh Aryal, project manager of the Nagarik App. “If you are receiving a government service and need identification verification, that is the purpose of the app. However, you cannot simply show a photo in the app as a substitute for a physical citizenship card.”

Instead, verification is meant to occur through secure, system-based processes such as QR code scanning. When traffic police accept digital licences, they are not visually inspecting an image—they are accessing verified data through the system.

“If you go somewhere that legally requires a physical document, they may or may not accept it because there is currently no official mandate,’’ Aryal said.

Some progress has been made. Hospitals that initially rejected the app for health insurance verification now recognise digital cards. Traffic police can also issue fines through the app.

Discussions are ongoing about extending similar recognition to banks and other institutions.

Aryal said interoperability ultimately depends on coordination across ministries and agencies that own the data integrated into the app.

“While the Department of Information Technology operates the app, the components within it belong to various agencies,” Aryal said. “It would be much easier if a mandate were set for all these agencies.”

Technical capacity, he added, is not the main constraint.

“We have the technical manpower,” he said. “What is needed is the willingness from ministries and agencies to integrate their systems.”

Future expansions are already being considered, including passport renewal services. “The plan is to reach a point where citizens don’t have to visit service providers’ offices at all,” Aryal said.

For now, that vision remains only partially realised.

Digital governance experts say the main barriers are legal recognition, institutional mandates and privacy-aware data sharing.

“There are both legal and institutional gaps,” said digital governance expert, Niraj Bhusal. “Legally, we need to explicitly recognise Nagarik App documents so they have legal standing.”

Bhusal pointed to earlier attempts to integrate banking services as an example of partial progress.

“When the app launched, there was an initiative to open bank accounts via the app. You could scan a QR code and pull your data so you didn’t have to fill it manually,” he said. “But even then, you still had to present your original citizenship card for final approval. The process was simplified, but the legal requirement remained.”

What is missing, he argued, is a system of transactional verification.

In such a model, a service provider could scan a QR code and verify identity through a secure backend, potentially with an added layer such as one-time password authentication.

“If a traffic policeman scans the QR code in your app, they can see your details and even issue a fine directly in the system,” Bhusal said. “We need a similar mechanism for other services. If I go to a bank, I should be able to generate a QR code that the bank scans to verify my data via OTP.”

Bhusal also stressed the importance of limited data sharing to protect privacy.

“If I am at the airport, the airline only needs to verify that the name on my ticket matches my ID,” he said. “They don’t need access to all my personal details.’’

Designing systems that share only necessary data would not only improve efficiency but also reduce the risk of data leakage.

He added that a formal government mandate would significantly accelerate adoption.

“If the government issues a notification in the Nepal Gazette, it would create a clear obligation for institutions,” he said. “You might still need the original documents initially, but for secondary services, the digital ID in the app should be enough.”

Bhusal said the technology behind the app is already capable of secure verification.

“We can use watermarking and dynamic QR codes,” he said. “If you scan it, it redirects to a government portal to verify authenticity. This is much more secure than a physical stamp.”

For now, however, the gap between capability and adoption persists. While some agencies accept documents stored in the Nagarik App, many institutions still demand physical verification, forcing citizens to carry both.

“The Nagarik App should be a branch in your pocket for government services, much like mobile banking apps have transformed financial access,” Bhusal said. “It should be useful, inclusive and secure.”