Security Printing Center Prints Only 519 Licenses in 15 Days: When Will 2.5 Million Be Completed?

Kathmandu: License printing has resumed at the Security Printing Center in Panauti after the fire at the Department of Transport Management, but the pace remains very slow. The government aimed to print 1.2 million licenses within six months. Yet the center has printed only 519 licenses in 15 days.

On 7 November, Minister of Communications Jagdish Kharel inaugurated license printing at the Security Printing Center in Panauti, Kavrepalanchok. Keshav Khatiwada, Director of the Department of Transport Management, said the center delivered 519 licenses in the first phase last Friday.

He said the department has been sending online application data for printing to the center every day in phases. The center prints licenses based on the data it receives.

Right now, the department sends only the details of new online applications received daily. According to Director Khatiwada, the center’s machine can print 24,000 to 25,000 licenses per day. But printing only a few hundred per day would waste materials and license cards. So the department collects several days’ worth of data and sends it in bulk.

“The center can print more than two thousand licenses in an hour, but only about 300 applications arrive daily,” Khatiwada said. “That’s why we collect three days of applications before sending them.”

So far, 3,500 license records have been sent. The center has delivered 519 licenses, and the rest are in process.

Backlog Printing Still Delayed by Another Month and a Half

The printing of old and backlog licenses has not started. The department said it will take another one to one and a half months because the system required to send backlog data is not ready. Once the system is ready, the department plans to send large data batches and complete the printing of 1.2 million licenses within the set timeline.

Emergency printing stopped completely after the fire at the Minbhavan office during the Gen-Z demonstration. On 30 October, the department and the center signed a second agreement to print 1.2 million licenses for Rs 300 million. These licenses will have QR codes instead of smart chips.

The department currently has more than 2.5 million licenses pending. Because of budget shortages, only 1.2 million have been contracted for printing. The department will request additional funds to print the remaining 1.3 million, Director Khatiwada said.

 

 

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