Driving license will be issued within a week, DPM Shrestha vows

KATHMANDU, March 27: Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Physical Infrastructure Narayankaji Shrestha has said that the government was preparing to issue the driving license within a week since the application is received for the same.

At a news conference on Monday, Shrestha said that the Ministry was developing a plan of action to give the driving license within a week after eight months. Currently, service seekers have to wait for almost a year to collect their driving licenses.

Deputy Prime Minister Shrestha said that the current situation was created for failures to print the driving license as per the demand. Presently, only 4,000 driving licenses have been printed against the daily demand for 6,000. Entire issues of the license printing would be resolved in eight months, according to Shrestha. 

To facilitate the printing process, the government is preparing to purchase a mass printer and tender bidding for this has already been announced, Shrestha added. 

He further shared that discussions are ongoing with the provincial governments to procure the printing machine based on the demand for the driving license in the concerned provinces. 

The demand for driving licenses in Bagmati and Lumbini provinces is very high.

Shrestha added that the Ministry has an advanced plan of action for the procurement of smart cards and printers considering the tough time that the service seekers are facing. 

For the supply of 1.2 million smart cards, a German company has been selected through international bidding and efforts are ongoing for the speedy supply, Shrestha further said.

Likewise, Shrestha said that the government has forwarded plans to print the embossed number plates in the Nepali language.