Service recipients have not been able to get a license even after paying the fee for a new driver's license since 2022. As a result, they are forced to carry the burden of paying the fee.

2.7 million licenses, including new and renewals, are yet to be printed. After service recipients have had to endure great hardship for years to get licenses, the Balendra Shah-led government has started facilitating this.

The 100-point agenda for governance reform approved by the Council of Ministers on 13 Chaitra 082 mentions implementing a system to provide services such as passports, citizenship, and driver's licenses in a fast, easy, and intermediary-free manner in a predictable time. Similarly, the agenda mentions converting the entire service process into a faceless and time-bound digital system.

With the aim of providing government services at home, the agenda mentions the modernization of the postal service and its development as a 'Government Courier Service', through which the system of delivering government documents including passports, citizenship copies, licenses to homes will be implemented within 100 days. So, has the Department of Transport Management started its preparations? When asked, Keshav Khatiwada, Director of the Department, said, 'Discussions are being held in this regard in the Prime Minister's Office, and then we will know how to proceed.'

According to him, the Security Printing Center is ready to print all the existing old licenses. The service of issuing licenses is available through 42 Transport Management Offices across the country. Director Khatiwada said that the licenses printed by the Security Printing Center are being sent to the concerned Transport Management Offices through the post. 'The discussion on how to deliver licenses to the service recipients at home will be finalized later in the Prime Minister's Office,' he said.

All Transport Management Offices are under the provincial government. The Department of Transport Management is under the Union Government alone. As the license printing facility is not yet under the Transport Management Office and the Provincial Ministry, the department has been coordinating.

Since the printing of licenses since 2022 has been stopped, the number of licenses to be distributed has reached 2.7 million. He said that discussions are also underway to make the Citizen App systematic and gradually reduce the need to carry and show the card.

‘During the discussion held at the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology on Tuesday, it was decided that the Security Printing Center will print up to 50,000 licenses per day,’ he said. ‘As per the agreement in the first lot, 1.2 million should be printed by 12 Baisakh, and there is a preparation to reach an agreement between the department and the center to print the remaining licenses.’ Although the remaining licenses can be printed within 100 days, the center has said that all will be printed by Asad. So far, 300,000 licenses have been printed and they are being sent to the relevant transport management offices.

A memorandum of understanding was signed between the Department of Transport Management and the Security Printing Center on 13 Kartik. The daily demand for ‘emergency’ license printing is 250 to 300. From across the country, 2500 to 3,000 applications are being submitted for renewal and new ones. ‘There was one printer in the department, that too was burnt down during the Gen-G movement. To issue licenses to service recipients quickly, a printing machine should be provided to each of the 42 transport management offices,’ he said. ‘If this is not possible, one machine should be provided to each of the seven provincial ministries and arrangements should be made for printing.’ He said that there was no problem in providing the ‘data’ of the license to the printing center when it was requested and the department is ready to provide it as per the requirement.’