Although motorbike is a necessary means of livelihood, transport, and mobility for common Nepalese, the government of Nepal considers motorcycles as luxury goods and has imposed hefty tax on their import of about 117%. The motorbike that cost around US $ 800 on the Indian Border side cost around US $ 1800 on the border side of Nepal If one has the money, buying a motorcycle is not a problem, but obtaining the essential legal authorization to ride a motorcycle—a motorcycle license—was exceedingly challenging.
A year and a half back, motorbike license was distributed only from 2 centers (Jhapa and Sunsari) of the Department of Transport in Koshi Province. This made these centers very pre-occupied and busy. It was very difficult to get the online appointment as the quota shows almost full all the time. Due to the red tape and procedural hurdles, only a few people were able to obtain motorbike licenses by legal means, which cost around US$25. Rests were obliged to pay middlemen a 7-times higher amount to obtain the license through extra-legal means.
The situation was so awful that it may take one to two years just to get an appointment. Besides this, passing the trial examination was like fighting another huge battle. Only few people were able to pass the written and trail exam, rest other were forced to bribe extra money or ride their bikes without licenses, facing the consequences if they were caught by the traffic police or hit by an accident. The situation forced people to pay heavy fines, lose the job opportunities, and face harassments that lower their self-esteem every time they get caught by the traffic police. This legal plunder was hurting common people on their livelihood, mobility, and saving. Bikalpa decided to raise its voice on the issue to ease the situation.
For last 7 years, we have been continuously raising our voices on the Motorbike taxation and License issue. We started with an article to educate readers about the problem; we eventually published six blogs and articles to highlight the problem. In addition to this, we released 4 videos on the subject in various formats (feature film, commentary, documentary, and interview) in order to engage the audience and foster the necessary dialogue
After having the consultation meeting with the service seekers (who did not have the license) and other concerned stakeholders, we published our research paper titled Acquiring Driving License in Nepal: A Policy Fiasco in November 2021. We submitted our delegation to the Minister of Physical Infrastructure Development of Province 1 Mr. Himal Karki, and Head of Department of Transport Biratnagar Mr. Anmol Bhattarai and shared them about the problem and public concerns. Minister Himal Karki, gave us an assurance that they will organize the stakeholder dialogue on the issue where we can present our case.
As we did not hear anything from the ministry, we decided to call for action. We planned the street protest campaign and appealed people to support us in our efforts of streamlining motorbike license process. On the evening of 5th of December 2021, along with our supporters, we gathered at the main junction of Biratnagar with the banner, slogans, and play cards to demand the needed reform. We coordinated with the media to highlight the protest. Nearly every local media reached us and covered the protest campaign. The issue was highlighted by the local television, national television, local online media, print media, YouTube channels. The visual news coverage by Makalu Television and Our Biratnagar media had more than half a million views. The visual contents, online blog and articles widely highlighted the issue, which engaged and sensitized the large number of common people and concerned stakeholders in the region.
This created a big discourse which compelled Minister Himal Karki to make a surprise visit to the Department of Transport, where he interacted with the service seekers to look into the existing problem related with Motorbike License. He also commanded the officials for effective and efficient service delivery and to address the issue.
Realizing the importance of engaging concerned authorities to solve the problem, Bikalpa reached out to Makalu Television, Department of Transport Management, and Ministry of Physical Infrastructure and Transport Province 1 to organize the panel discussion.
Mr. Ram Prasad Phuyal, Deputy Secretary of Ministry of Physical Infrastructure and Transport Province 1, Mr. Bhim Gautam, Director of Transport Management, Province 1, and Sarwagya Raj Pandey, Research and Advocacy Officer of Bikalpa an Alternative were the panelists. The audience included participants from the media, service seekers, civil society organizations, and the traffic authorities.
The telecasted program was very engaging where the audience began raising questions and grieving to the authorities. During the program, Director of Transport Management of Province 1, Mr. Bhim Gautam, announced that the motorbike license would be issued from Biratnagar service center within 2 months. Even though the Department of Transport Management was unable to deliver on its promise in time, they were able to do it eight months later, in August 2022.
Many individuals express gratitude and praise Bikalpa’s contribution to bringing attention to the issue and finding a solution The head of Department of Transport, Biratnagar Mr. Anmol Bhattarai too acknowledges Bikalpa Effort in highlighting the issue sensitizing the public and pressurizing the concerned authorities for the needed reform (his statement can be seen after 5 minute 27 seconds in the given link).
After the decentralization and distribution of the motorbike license started from 5 more different districts of the Koshi Province, people now can get the motorbike license in very short period. If they are eligible, persons in Biratnagar can obtain a license in a week or 10 days. According to the Koshi Ministery of Physical Infrastructure Development officer Subash Karki, the decentralization process has lowered the workload of 2 centers (Jhapa and Sunsari) by 65 percent. Obtaining a motorcycle license from these places used to be like triumphing in a war; today, it only takes 15 days.
Including Bikalpa team, there are many people who believe that adding more service delivery centers has increased the capacity to make timely appointments along with getting efficient service delivery. We advocated vigorously in streamlining the service delivery in Biratnagar, and we have plenty of evidences to support our claim.
Before 14th of August 2022, not a single license was issued from Biratnagar center. However, from the 14th of August untill 9th of June 2023, in period of 10 months, 19,891 people have already received the 2-wheeler licenses from the Biratnagar department of transport office ( excluding 3 wheelers and 4 wheelers)
Similarly, the license services in the Dhankuta, Ilam, and Udaypur districts began in November 2021. Since then, 13500, 20412, and 28886 licenses have been distributed in Dhankuta, Ilam, and Udaypur, respectively. Okhaldunga very recently began offering its services in March 2023, and only 286 licenses have been distributed.
We did not intervene directly in other districts as we did in Biratnagar to ease the difficulties in Motorbike licenses, but we were very vocal on the issue since 2018 through our blog, articles, videos, and social media engagements and creates the needed discourse in easing up the motorbike license. We do not claim the entire spotlight, but we were the first to advocate for the cause in the region and kept up the fight to the very end. The government’s willingness to start the new service centers and upgrade the existing service centers has played a crucial role to solve the existing problem.
