Kathmandu, December 4
The government is planning to make embossed number plates mandatory on vehicles.
This comes after Tiger Decatur, the company contracted to install the number of the plates started to put pressure on the government.
Around 350,000 printed number plates are currently stored in a warehouse. The government contracted Tiger Decatur to print 2.5 million embossed plates in 2016. Since then this project has been mired in controversy due to various reasons including its durability, lack of infrastructure to read the embossed number plates and the script in which it is written.
According to the contract agreement which was extended in June 2022, the remaining 2.1 million embossed plates should be printed by the end of June 2025. Failure to meet this deadline places the government of Nepal in a challenging position, as any delay subjects them to a 95 per cent compensation penalty amounting to USD 38.7 million payable to Tiger Decatur. This has intensified the pressure on the government.
Due to the payment structure tied to the quantity of printed plates, the government has implemented a policy mandating that the contractor must ensure a timely installation of embossed number plates. This directive stems from the understanding that a sluggish installation pace will result in an inadequate payment to the contractor.
According to the government policy, the Transport Management Office in Pokhara has enforced embossed number plates on newly registered vehicles. Now, arrangements are in place to make it mandatory in other provinces including Bagmati.
