Kathmandu, May 4: The government has completed printing 1.2 million smart driving licenses out of the 2.9 million pending licences for applicants who have passed driving tests or paid renewal fees.
According to an agreement signed on October 29, 2025, between the Department of Transport Management and the Security Printing Centre, the first phase involved printing 1.2 million licenses. In the second phase, agreed on April 17, 2026, printing of the remaining 1.7 million licenses has begun.
The Printing Centre reported that, so far, 5,101 licenses have been printed in the second phase, while 54,861 are currently in the printing process.
Executive Director Dev Raj Dhungana said the center is printing around 40,000 licenses daily and expects to clear the backlog by mid-July. He added that printing continues even on public holidays to ensure timely completion.
According to the center, 37,886 emergency and trial-pass licenses, along with 36,140 licenses for applicants who paid fees on the same day, have already been printed.
“We plan our printing based on the data received from the Department,” said Dhungana. “Emergency licenses and same-day service requests are being processed regularly.”
He also stated that the second batch will be completed before mid-July. On average, data for around 4,000 new licenses is received daily from 42 transport management offices nationwide.
The Department sends data to the Printing Centre daily by 6:00 pm after applicants pass trials and complete payments. The center prints licenses within 24 hours and returns them to the Department the next working day.
The new smart licenses include enhanced security features. While previous versions had 18 features, the new cards include 39, such as intelligent QR codes, machine-readable zones, and security elements visible to the naked eye, through devices, and under laboratory conditions.
Each license contains two QR codes: one on the front for central authority verification and another on the back accessible to service recipients and traffic police. Earlier licenses used a chip-based system.
Printed licenses are distributed to respective transport offices via the Postal Service Department.
Ganesh Man Singh Rai, Information Officer at the Department, said data submission for the second phase is ongoing and printing is progressing accordingly. He confirmed that licences are being delivered to offices through postal services.
Rai noted that the Transport Management Office in Ekantakuna, Lalitpur, has the highest backlog, with around 900,000 licenses pending.
“Due to the high volume in Ekantakuna during the first phase, data from other offices was also processed to avoid delays,” he said. “In the second phase, priority will be given to Ekantakuna.”
He added that applicants can now check their license status through the Nagarik App, including whether their license has been printed. #Nepal
