Nearly 9,000 smart driving licenses printed in 2 months

KATHMANDU: Approximately 9,000 smart driving licenses embedded with QR codes have been printed within two months at the Security Printing Centre, located in Panauti Municipality–5, Kavrepalanchowk.

According to the Department of Transport Management, a total of 8,983 licenses have been printed since production began on Kartik 21.

The department resumed license printing at the centre after its main “mass printer” was vandalized during the Gen Z movement.

Minister for Communications and Information Technology Jagdish Kharel formally inaugurated the printing process on Kartik 21 by pressing the launch button at the centre.

A formal agreement between the department and the centre had been signed earlier on Kartik 12, under which the centre is required to supply 1.2 million licenses within six months.

Only Urgent Licenses Being Printed

Department IT Director Keshav Khatri said that nearly 3 million licenses—including those for new trial passers and renewals—are still pending.

“So far, only urgent licenses are being printed. Out of the nearly 9,000 printed, around 7,000 have already been distributed,” he said.

The department is preparing to begin large-scale printing and plans to send 100,000 data files at a time. As per the agreement, the centre aims to print the remaining 1.191 million smart cards within the next two months.

Printing Speed to Increase from Magh

Although progress has been slow so far, Executive Director of the centre, Devraj Dhungana, said the pace will increase from the month of Magh.

“The initial phase was a testing period, which is why printing remained limited. From next week, with additional manpower, production will accelerate,” he said.

According to Dhungana, the centre is preparing to print 10,000 smart licenses per day starting from Magh.

During the first two weeks, 520 licenses were printed and handed over to the department after successful testing at Nepal’s own laboratory.

As per the agreement, the centre will print 300,000 licenses in the first three months at a rate of 100,000 per month, followed by 900,000 licenses in the next three months, completing the 1.2 million target.

QR Codes Replace Chips

The newly printed cards use QR codes instead of embedded chips. The centre claims the cards feature high-level security systems, including six layers of security technology.

Each card will contain 34 security features, some visible and others invisible, to prevent forgery.

Expansion Beyond Licenses

In addition to driving licenses, the centre is preparing to print postage stamps, citizenship certificates, excise duty stickers, land ownership certificates (Lalpurja), and visa stickers.

Two high-security digital machines imported from Iraq have already been used to test-print excise duty stickers. These machines have a combined capacity of printing 600 million excise stickers annually.

Expected Annual Savings of Rs 10 Billion

Once fully operational, the centre is expected to save Nepal approximately Rs 10 billion annually, which currently goes abroad for secure printing services.

The facility will require nearly 1,000 personnel, including 200 technical staff.

In 2080, the government approved a three-phase master plan to develop the security printing sector.

• First phase: Achieve self-reliance within five years

• Second phase: Expand services to SAARC and Southeast Asian countries within 10 years

• Third phase: Provide secure printing services globally within 15 years

The centre was established five years ago after physical infrastructure built for an IT Park remained unused.

Spread across 257 ropanis of land, the facility includes two large administrative buildings, four residential blocks, warehouses, and other modern infrastructure.