Role of Madras Security blamed for technical issues in smart license

Kathmandu: The Madras Security Printers Chennai, India contracted to facilitate with the Department of Transport Management (DoTM) to issue the smart driving license and has been blamed for failing to deliver as per the agreement.

According to the Department, the Company still awaits to develop the related software system to a full scale.

The Company’s failure to deliver as per the agreement has caused hurdles in the printing and distribution of smart driving cards, according to the Department. It is said the Department has already paid 90 per cent of the contract amount or Rs 700 billion to the Company, but it failed to deliver as per the agreement.

As shared by Department computer engineer Suraj Prasad Aryal, the Department has already informed the Company about technical issues it is facing in the smart card software system. Though the Company was urged to send a technical team here to fix the issues, it did not find it necessary to respond to the call.

The letter dispatched by the Department to the Company states that TMO /TMSO and modules are not functioning properly, there is a problem with the online payment of tax and insurance and it is tackling a software bug and loopholes in the security system. More, the security audit of electronic driving licenses is yet to be carried out. Due to these reasons, the Department’s Online System (EDL and VRS) remains non-functioning.

Similarly, work on 18 TMS has also not moved ahead as the company has not sent the skilled human resources required for technological assistance as per the agreement. The company has to provide the software project manager, senior and junior Web Java programmer, database specialist and quality assurance specialist, but it has not completed this process till now.

Not only this, the company has also not fully handed over the software and hardware necessary for the online renewal of the driving license and vehicle registration. The DoTM has alleged that it is facing problems frequently in this process this.