KATHMANDU, Nov 1: Although the Department of Transport Management (DOTM) announced last week that printing of 600,000 smart driving licenses would be completed within 45 days, the actual printing work of the licenses has yet to begin due to some technical snags.
Officials at Malika Incorporate, the firm outsourced to print the driving licenses, said the DoTM has not yet provided them the necessary data citing the technical error in its computer system. Sources said DoTM has invited software engineers from Madras Printing — which maintained software applications and data for DoTM – to resolve the technical problem. The engineers have already landed in Kathmandu on Wednesday, according to officials.
According to Managing Director of Malika Incorporate Surendra Dhakal, they have printed around 16,000 smart licenses as samples in the first phase. “However, we have not been able to print further as we are unable to receive necessary data from the DoTM due to the technical problem in their computer system,” he said.
Dhakal said they have a capacity to print 20,000 licenses a day as they have already hired additional staff in view of the strict deadline. “But now we are without work due to the glitch at the DoTM,” he further said.
“Once the technical issues are resolved, we will print the licenses round-the-clock to meet the deadline,” Dhakal further said.
Earlier, the government had signed the one-off contract with Malika Incorporate amid growing complaints from service seekers regarding the inordinate delay in issuing licenses by the government. According to the department, around 400,000 people have already received smart licenses, while 600,000 others are still pending and around 1.4 million people are currently using receipts instead of smart licenses.
Due to the delay in distribution of smart license, a cabinet meeting on September 16 had decided to give the contract to print the licenses to the new company.