The Department of Transport Management (DoTM) has said it has been facing a number of technical difficulties in implementing Smart Driving License.

As a result, it failed to complete the pilot-testing on time. The department had planned to complete the pilot-testing in Bagmati by December-end and start full-fledged implementation from January 1.

“We have encountered a number of difficulties, particularly those related to software, resulting in the delay in completing the piloting on time. We are working out,” DoTM Spokesperson Basanta Adhikari said.

Some of the problems faced by the department are the software failing to incorporate details of old licences, not reading punctuation marks such hyphen in dates and issues in giving the traffic police the access to the software. DoTM officials said it could take until January-end to settle the problems.

DoTM introduced the Smart Driving License on December 1 and started distribution from mid-December. Around 1,200 such licenses have been distributed so far, while an additional 200 are being printed, Adhikari said.

The licenses are printed by India’s Madras Security Printers. Learners Tech Pvt Ltd is the company’s local representative. Solving the issues has been taking time as the local representative has to 

talk to the Chennai-based Indian firm and make adjustments accordingly.

Due to the lack of proper coordination between the traffic police and the transport department, the former too have been facing difficulties in take action to those carrying Smart Driving Licenses. For example, the police punch a hole in the licence card in case of drunk-driving, but in the case of the smart card, such a provision is not applicable.

“Since the traffic police do not have devices compatible with the smart cards, they need to correspond with transportation offices or area traffic police office and this has created some hassles,” Adhikari said. 

“Now that we have provided an online access to the traffic police, only some minor issues are left.”

The department said it would soon start facilitating renewal of old licences. However, those wanting to acquire new smart licences with their existing permits 

yet to expire have to wait for some time.

The department has procured 160,000 units of the smart cards which will be issued to those acquiring the permits for the first time. The process for procuring an additional 400,000 cards will begin within a couple of months.

The DoTM said its subordinate offices across the country will start issuing the smart licence once the Bagmati Zonal office completes the pilot-testing. 

Smart Driving License is part of the Information and Communication Technology Development Project funded by the Asian Development Bank. The $25-million grant project envisions helping the government promote economic and social development and reduce poverty by making ICT more accessible.

Some of the problems faced by the department are 

the software failing to incorporate details of old 

licences and not reading punctuation marks