Kathmandu, March 25 -- Nearly 2.7 million people who cleared their driving licence tests are still waiting for their cards, years after completing the process, exposing deep inefficiencies in Nepal's transport system. Applicants dating back to 2022 continue to rely on payment slips instead of physical licences, often facing repeated checks and hassle from traffic police.

Transport offices operate under provincial governments, while the Department of Transport Management remains under the federal authority. With licence printing still centralised, the department has been handling coordination, but repeated disruptions since 2022 have driven the backlog to its current scale.

The crisis deepened after a fire on September 9 damaged the Depa...