Koshi Province
Delay in the issuance of smart driving licence a nuisance in Morang
Applicants have not received their smart driving licences even after 21 months of passing their driving tests.Deo Narayan Sah
Brisha Bahadur Budha, of Udayapur, who is currently living in Itahari Sub Metropolis, passed his driving test 21 months ago. Since then, he has been frequenting the Transport Management Office in Itahari to receive a smart driving licence. But he has not obtained the licence yet.
Budha has been compelled to drive around carrying a receipt as proof of him passing the driving licence test. He said, “Traffic police slaps a fine of Rs 1,000 if I carry my receipt only. They ask for my citizenship certificate as well, even though the receipt in itself is proof of my identity.” According to him, he has already paid Rs 4,000 fine to the traffic police in the last 21 months.
Tek Bahadur Bhujel, of Itahari Sub Metropolis, also has a similar story to share. He had filed an application to renew his motorcycle licence on July 13, 2018, but he is yet to receive his licence.
Like Budha and Bhujel, around 30 to 35 individuals visit the Transport Management Office in Itahari to inquire about their digital driving licenses on a daily basis. But the office blames the Department of Transport Management (DoTM) for the delay in the distribution of smart driving licences.
“The DoTM in Kathmandu has to print the licences. Around two percent applicants from 2017 and 30 percent from 2018 are yet to receive the licence,” said Binda Kumari Nepal, chief at the Transport Management Office in Itahari. According to Nepal, her office has repeatedly notified the DoTM to print the licences on time.
The Transport Management Office in Itahari has also requested the Ministry of Physical Infrastructure Development to take initiatives to solve the problem but to no avail. Rewati Raman Parajuli, the spokesperson of the ministry, said that they have been requesting the federal government to hand over all of the responsibilities that are currently with the DoTM to the province based Transport Management Offices.
Parajuli said, “The problem has arisen as the DoTM is the only authorised agency for printing licences. We have already allocated the budget to print licence and blue book in the current fiscal year. If the central level hands over the system to the province, we can print the licence here itself.”
Two years ago, the then director of the department had announced the distribution of smart driving licenses from all of the transport management offices across the country. As per the rule, service seekers should be able to obtain their smart licence within 45 days of passing the test.