Want to Collect Your Renewed Driving Licence? Be Prepared to Stand in a Queue for Hours!

Photos: LB Thapa

Want to collect your renewed driving license? Be prepared to stand in a queue for hours!

By LB Thapa

To make a long story short, my driving licence expired in 2025. As usual, I went to the Department of Transport Management in Kaski with the receipt required to collect my renewed licence. The last time I renewed my licence, I had to wait almost four years before receiving it. Ironically, by the time I finally got the renewed licence, it was due for renewal again the following year.

Recently, however, I read in several newspapers that the government had committed itself to clearing the backlog of pending licence printing as quickly as possible. Encouraged by this news, I arrived at the Transport Management Office in Kaski at around 10 a.m. To my astonishment, I found an enormous queue stretching from the licence distribution window all the way to the main road—far beyond the office premises.

To be honest, the sight of such a long queue was intimidating. Standing for hours under the scorching sun was no easy task. Nevertheless, I gathered my courage and joined the line. After waiting for more than an hour, I began to lose patience. I noticed that some people were entering through the back door and receiving their licences without having to stand in the queue. Others were forcefully joining the line wherever they pleased. It appeared that some individuals were acting as middlemen, collecting money from people in exchange for helping them obtain their licences more quickly. Disheartened by the situation, I left the queue and returned home.

Determined to avoid the crowd, I decided to visit the office again the next morning at 7 a.m. Unfortunately, when I arrived, I found that the queue was already extremely long. When I spoke to those standing in line, many told me they had arrived as early as 6 a.m., while some had come even earlier.

What surprised me most was the complete absence of police personnel to manage such a large crowd. People with aggressive and intimidating behaviour forcefully inserted themselves into the queue and managed to obtain their licences ahead of others. Many men and women waiting in line said they had taken leave from work specifically to collect their renewed licences. Some had come after only a light breakfast, assuming they would return home comfortably in time for lunch. They were mistaken. Many ended up sacrificing their lunch and spending most of the day standing in line.

This entire situation could be managed easily through a simple coupon system. In fact, almost everyone I spoke with in the queue suggested the same solution. My question is simple: if the problem can be solved so easily, why has the management failed to implement it?

Under a coupon system, applicants would receive numbered tokens upon arrival. A digital display board could then announce the current coupon number being served, allowing people to wait comfortably instead of standing in a queue for hours. When their number appears, they could approach the counter and collect their licence. The problem could be solved efficiently, fairly, and with minimal inconvenience to the public.

Unfortunately, it seems that the authorities have little interest in addressing the issue. The longer people are forced to stand in queues under the blazing sun, the more likely they are to become frustrated and seek assistance from agents who charge money to expedite the process. If this is not the reason, then why has the Transport Management Office failed to adopt a simple coupon system that could eliminate these long queues? The current arrangement is frustrating, exhausting, and a complete waste of time.

At a time when the government claims to be committed to promoting good governance and improving public services, it must pay immediate attention to this issue.

I have written this article simply to draw the attention of the concerned authorities. I hope they will take the necessary steps to address this problem and hold accountable those government employees who continue to force citizens across the country to spend hours standing in long queues merely to collect their renewed driving licences.

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