By A Staff Reporter
Kathmandu, Jan. 31: Roshan, a 24-year-old from Koteshwor, has been planning to buy a motorcycle so that he could easily commute to his office at Sundhara. Before buying a motorcycle, Roshan, however, needed a driving license.
“At first, I applied for a driving license through the online system in February 2021 at the Chabahil-based Transport Management Office. I was given the date of October, 2021 for biometrics. It was eight months later,” said Roshan.

Many like Roshan were bound to wait for months last year due to the COVID-19 induced lockdown but only a few among them appeared in the called dates.
“I couldn’t attend the office on the called day because I forgot it after eight months. If one doesn’t visit the office on the called date, I found that one needs to apply again,” Roshan said.
The registration details provided by a transport management office after submitting the application online states that if an applicant failed to appear for biometric on the date of visit, those applicants must register online again.

“I applied again on January 23, 2022. I have been called to the transport office in Jagati, Bhaktapur, on January 14, 2024, for biometrics,” said Roshan, who plans to drop his plan to buy a motorcycle anytime soon.
When transport management officials were asked the reason for an applicant to wait for two years to sit for license examination, they blamed the lengthy queue and lack of enough infrastructures.

Lok Nath Bhusal, spokesperson for the Department of Transport Management (DoTM), said that only those applying for driving license of two-wheelers through Kathmandu Valley are bound to wait for more than two years.
Around 400,000 to 500,000 people are awaiting their turns for driving license examinations, said Bhusal.

“If someone applies for a two-wheeler driving license now, s/he will receive the date for May, 2022,” said Bhakta Bahadur Bhandari, chief at Transport Management Service Office, Hetauda.
According to Bhandari, they managed to reorganise examination for those who couldn’t attend the office on the specified date but still many
were absent.

“An absentee will have to apply again and there are many of them. The number of new applicants are similarly higher,” said Bhandari.
With new applicants soaring, officials argued that they still lack required resources to resolve the issue.

“We don’t have enough trial centres to increase the capacity so that more examinees can sit for exams,” said Nabina Rijal, information officer at the Chabahil-based Transport Management Office.
According to Rijal, while a two-wheeler applicant has to wait for two years, the one applying for a four-wheeler has to wait a year.

“Meanwhile, we are receiving applicants who missed their turn earlier every Thursday,” said Rijal.
According to DoTM spokesperson Bhusal, unless the provincial government increased the trial centres in the Kathmandu Valley allowing more to sit for exams the problem would persist.