KATHMANDU, Jan 23: The Department of Transport Management (DoTM) has installed 78,000 embossed number plates on vehicles in eight years amidst disputes and confusion.

During the eight years that the DoTM signed the contract for embossed number plates, barely 78,000 embossed number plates were installed.

According to the contract signed between the DoTM and the contractor company Decatur Tiger IT on May 30, 2016, embossed number plates should have been installed on 2.5 million vehicles by November 27, 2023. However, during that period, the installation of embossed number plates was affected.

Uddhav Prasad Rijal, Director General of DoTM, said that only 78,000 embossed number plates have been installed so far. According to the initial contract agreement, embossed number plates were to be installed on 2.5 million vehicles within five years. As many as 412,318 embossed number plates have been produced so far. But the installation work has been rather slow.

According to the contract, as the work of installing embossed number plates on the vehicles has not progressed effectively, the deadline has been extended up to November 26, 2025.

The project also faced early disputes, including a court battle over whether to use English or Devnagari script on the embossed number plates. Eventually, the court granted permission to use English. Additionally, delays in naming the provinces have led to various types of confusion in the embossed number plates.