Printing of driver’s license halted due to card shortage

Due to a shortage of required cards for printing ‘smart’ driver’s licenses, printing other than emergency has been halted.

According to the Department of Transport Management, over 350 cards are not being printed daily for emergencies due to a shortage of permit printing cards. Ishwaridatta Paneru, the department’s spokesperson, informed that the purchasing process has already been initiated and the cards will arrive soon.

The department states that it has been more than three weeks since licenses have only been printed for emergency situations. The number of permits to be printed for the department has increased after regular printing was suspended. Spokesperson Paneru mentioned that preparations for a contract to purchase additional cards are underway.

It is reported that six hundred thousand cards are being purchased for the first time. Additionally, the process for purchasing an additional six hundred thousand cards has been initiated by the department.

Although the government introduced the ‘smart’ driver’s license to provide convenient services to citizens, they often face difficulties due to the lack of proper organization. Delays in acquiring necessary equipment or materials, as well as management issues, prevent citizens from obtaining their permits on time.

Under the information and communication technology project of the Asian Development Bank, four printers and three hundred fifty thousand cards were purchased based on an agreement. Customers claim that not only does it take time to print the permits, but the cards they receive after waiting for a long time also have recurring issues. There is a crowd of customers at the transport office when the printing process resumes after a prolonged period of suspension.

Responsibility for transport management lies with the municipality at the local level. In cases where there are two or more municipalities, the federal government is responsible for managing vehicles and transportation between provinces and inter-provinces.

Despite the lack of coordination between different levels of government, service users face intermittent problems. Due to delays from the federal government, some states have started making plans to independently purchase equipment for printing permits. Rasas