Himalayan News Service

Kathmandu, January 19

The Department of Transport Management (DoTM) will take at least 10 more days to transfer all licence records from the Nepal police offices, from where licences were being issued till recently.

"We will begin examination of the applicants after all records have been transferred," said administrative director of DoTM, Sunil Pratap Singh.

The government had decided to transfer the authority of issuing licences from the Nepal police to the DoTM some months ago. The DoTM was supposed to start work from October 18, 2003, starting with five zones, but it was later decided that the same would start all over the country from January 15, this year.

The DoTM had recently issued a notice stating that the department was unable to begin its task from the announced date as they need around two weeks to transfer all the documents.

The department has already formed a separate section, with Tanka Prasad Pokharel as its chief, for distributing licences. According to Singh, the security logo - holograms - will be prepared after some days that would be more secure than the ones used by the Nepal Police. Unlike the round holograms earlier, the new ones will be oval in shape.

Nepal police even used to register vehicles before the DoTM began functioning some 11 years ago.

The DoTM has recently issued a new Driving Licence Directorate, 2060, for helping regulation and bringing in uniformity in the distribution process all over the country.