The Department of Transport Management has started printing smart licenses 15 months after the public stopped getting them. About 1.4 million cards were printed and distributed about three weeks ago. The printing of licenses was started at the Department of Transport Management on Tuesday in the presence of Minister for Physical Infrastructure and Transport Renukumari Yadav.

Distribution of smart licenses was halted from August 2020. Only those who traveling abroad were given emergency licenses. Information Officer of the Department Loknath Bhusal informed that 700,000 new and old smart licenses have yet to be printed. Printing was delayed when the French company Selp, which was in charge of the supplying the cards, did not supply the cards on time.

“The printer we have will now run at full capacity in three shifts per day,” said Namaraj Ghimire, Director General of the Department. “We now plan to print 7,000 to 10,000 cards per day.” He claims that pending smart licenses will be printed by mid-February. The printer can print 450 cards in an hour. As soon as the cards are printed, they will be sent to all 21 transport management offices across country, Ghimire informed.

The Department says that the smart cards with will be renewed and distributed only to those who passed their trial one year ago. Director General Ghimire said that his office was planning to deliver the cards via post to those who come for renewal.

He said that a one-year probationary card will be issued to those acquiring new license as soon as they pass their trial. They will be provided with the smart license only after one year of acquiring their probationary card.

Minister Yadav said, “We are discussing about ways to distribute the cards via post offices rather than having people come to Kathmandu from far away districts such as Humla and Jumla.”

The government started providing smart licenses from 2016 and has distributing 2 million smart licenses so far.

Holders of temporary licenses will be able to obtain permanent smart licenses with proof that they have not made a mistake more than five times a year. Those having passed their trial are provided with a one-year temporary license with a QR code.

Meanwhile, preparations are underway to mandate embossed number plates in five provinces, informed Ghimire. He added that they plan to construct Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) gates in six places inside Kathmandu and four places outside. “The RFID gates will keep re-cord of vehicles passing through it. It will identify the data through the respective vehicle’s embossed number plate,” said Ghimire.

Within the next year, DoTM officials informed, the RFID gate would be constructed in Thankot and nearby New Baneshwor. The data collected through the gates will also be useful to check traffic volume; it is also expected to reduce theft of vehicles.