Yogendra Lamichhane had to make an advance booking and wait for several days to get his motorcycle which he had been planning to buy for a long time. After taking delivery of his bike on Sunday, he joined another waiting list, this time for his registration number.

“I have been making calls to showroom officials, but they only tell me to wait for a few more days to get the registration number for my motorcycle,” said Lamichhane. He added that the showroom had told him that there was a long backlog of customers waiting to get their two-wheelers registered.

The authorities had stopped registrations of two-wheelers in Bagmati zone since October 2 as the existing laws didn’t allow two-wheelers to be registered with a three-digit lot number, and all the vehicle numbers under lot number 99 had been used up. The delay in amending the Vehicle and Transport Management Rules, 1997 meant that owners of new two-wheelers had to wait for a long time to get their number plates.

As per the old rules, vehicle number plates can have a maximum of eight characters—zone abbreviation, lot number, type of vehicle and four-digit vehicle number. The government stopped registering new two-wheelers after the vehicle number reached 9999 under lot number 99.

On October 28, the Department of Transport Management made the required arrangements to resume registrations of two-wheelers, but most of the two-wheelers bought during the festive season still have not been registered.

According to Sanjip Neupane, marketing director of Gorakha Manakamana Auto Enterprises which sells Yamaha two-wheelers, half the vehicles sold during the time registrations were on hold are yet to get new numbers. “Our customers have complained about facing occasional hassles from the traffic police. Registrations have resumed, but they may have to wait a little more, especially when it takes at least a week to get your blue book,” Neupane told the Post.

Two-wheeler sellers had feared a drop in sales during the festive season as there was confusion about registration in Bagmati zone, the largest vehicle market in the country. Neupane added that dealers got temporary numbers from Lumbini and Narayani zones so there would be no drop in sales during the peak season. “Luckily, we were able to meet our sales target for the festival season,” said Neupane.

The Department of Transport Management has allowed two-wheelers to be registered under the provinces by amending the existing rules.

“Vehicle registrations will ultimately come under the provinces, so we have changed the existing laws permitting two-wheelers in Bagmati zone to be registered under Province 3,” said Gokarna Upadhyaya, spokesperson for the Department of Transport Management. “The public faced some difficulty after registrations were stopped. Things will return to normal soon.”

According to the department, more than 5,000 new two-wheelers have been registered since registrations resumed last week.

Under the new numbering scheme which was published in the Nepal Gazette on October 25, the number plate will have the province and Transport Office code at the top, three-digit lot number, vehicle type and four-digit registration number at the bottom. The department has finalised a new code for all 16 Transport Management Offices located in all seven provinces.