DoTM prints more than 700,000 smart driving licenses during the pandemic

KATHMANDU, Dec 10: The Department of Transport Management (DoTM) has printed more than 700,000 smart driving licenses during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Department used the lockdown period as an opportunity to clear the backlog.

Gogan Bahadur Hamal, director general at DoTM said that the printing of remaining smart licenses has been completed. “We worked on clearing the backlog that had remained intact since the last one and a half year,” he said, “The backlog was finally cleared as staffers worked in four shifts during the lockdown period.”

The Department had halted the printing work for the first 10 days when the country went into a complete lockdown. After that it had resumed the work by following strict health safety measures.

According to Hamal, the Department printed 700,000 smart licenses until October and has sent them to the concerned offices and branches for distribution. “Smart driving license cards have been printed for all except for those who came to renew in November and December,” he told Republica, adding, “Currently, the concerned transport offices are distributing them.”

There was no trial for new licenses and also no one went for renewal during the period and that’s why the Department got the opportunity to print the cards. “We turned the COVID-19 pandemic into an opportunity to print smart licenses,” he added.

Earlier, it would take at least a year to get the card after applying for renewal. The Department said that the renewal backlog has also been cleared except for the new applicants. It was facing a huge backlog problem due to the addition of service seekers for both new licenses and renewal.