200,000 Applications For Driving Licenses Still Pending

There are currently 200,000 applications for driving licences that are still pending at the Department of Transport Management, reports Online Khabar. The government has not been able to distribute driving licenses properly and it is directly affecting the public.

The Department of Transport Management has only about 15,000 blank smart cards to print driving licenses in its current stock. According to the deparment, it gets around 5,000 applications for license every day but it is struggling to print even 500 licenses.

The government does not have enough cards and it also does not have efficient printing machines as well. There are only four machines to print the card; out of which one has stopped working. The Department does distribute licenses throughout the country but printing is only done in its central office; in the three machines.

As a result, an applicant has to wait for as long as 10 months to get their licenses after filing an application.

According to the Department’s Director General, Rup Narayan Bhattarai the problem will resolve itself very soon as an Indian company, Madras Security Printers, has been assigned to supply 750,000 smart cards. He added that around 100,000 cards will be delivered within few weeks.

He said, “We are sensitive that the problem should not get prolonged.“