KATHMANDU, July 19: The government has increased the fee for receiving new license for all categories of vehicles and also for their renewal, effective from Sunday.
The Department of Transport Management (DoTM) took this decision revising its previous fee structure that was introduced eleven years ago. A recent cabinet meeting endorsed the department's decision.
According to Basanta Adhikari, spokesman at the department, the fee structures for issuing new license as well as renewal and application fee have been hiked and have already come into effect since Sunday.
The fee for issuing new license and renewing license for two-wheeler used to be Rs 700, but has now been hiked to Rs 1,500.
For light vehicles such as cars, the government has increased the fee to get new license and renew license to Rs 2,000 from Rs 1,000.
As per the new rules, the drivers of mini-bus and mini-truck should now pay Rs 2,500 separately for getting new license and to renew the old ones.
Earlier, they had to pay Rs 1,500. Similarly, the drivers of heavy vehicles now need to pay Rs 3,000 instead of the earlier fee of Rs 2,000.
Officials at the DoTM also informed that the government has also hiked the application fee to Rs 500 from Rs 200.
Chek Prasad Upreti, an official at the Bagmati Zonal Transport Management Office, argued that the decision was taken as it had been a decade since the previous fee structure was introduced. The Bagmati Zonal office of the department is the only office that has been distributing smart driving license since December 2015.
Government allows 1500 quake-affected people to operate new taxis in Kathmandu
The government has decided open registration for 1,500 new taxis for quake affected people from 11 districts worst-hit by the devastating earthquakes of last year. The new taxis will be registered in Bagmati Zone, where registration for new taxis isn't allowed for general people.
The DoTM has decided to collect applications from July 20 to August 18 for the purpose. DoTM Spokesperson Basanta Adhikari informed that they will accept applications only for 1,500 new taxis and the DoTM will select quake-affected people based on their identity cards.
“We are expecting that the number of the applicants will be almost 25,000 but we will only distribute to 1,500 people through lucky draw,” he said, adding that the victims will be able to run their taxi inside the Kathmandu Valley.
He made it clear that the government support for the quake-affected people is only to register the taxis but not to provide any financial support for the purpose. Few years back, the government had registered 1,850 new taxis in the Kathmandu Valley.
According to him, 7,500 taxis are now operating in Bagmati Zone.
Govt gears up preparation to distribute driving licenses within...
