Kathmandu, Aug. 7: A prolonged technical problem in the National Identity Card Management Information System (NIDMIS) has disrupted services at 16 government agencies, delaying passport issuance and other essential public services across Nepal.
The outage has prevented agencies from verifying National Identity (NID) numbers through the Citizen Portal, leaving thousands of service seekers stranded despite completing applications and paying required fees.
The Department of Passports has been among the hardest hit. Applicants paying the Rs 12,000 express passport fee, which guarantees delivery within 24 to 48 hours, have been waiting for days or even weeks because their NID details cannot be authenticated.
Many applicants have been forced to make repeated visits to the department or extend their stay in Kathmandu, increasing their expenses while facing uncertainty over when their passports will be issued.
The disruption extends beyond passport services. According to the Department of National ID and Civil Registration, the system failure has also affected the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology, Ministry of Labour, Employment and Transport, Medical Education Commission, Department of Transport Management, Department of Information Technology, Inland Revenue Department, Department of Immigration, Department of Land Management and Archives, Health Insurance Board, Social Security Fund, Credit Information Centre, National Bookkeeping Office (Civil Service), Nepal Rastra Bank, Pension Management Office and the Office of the Company Registrar.
The National ID Department has asked affected agencies to temporarily verify applicants using certified confirmation pages generated by the NIDMIS until the system is fully restored.
Passport Department spokesperson Deepak Banjade said his office has repeatedly urged the National ID Department to resolve the issue as public frustration continues to mount. He added that the department has been informed that discussions have reached the Prime Minister’s Office and that authorities are working to restore the system soon.
Technical problems with the National ID system are not new. Similar outages in recent months disrupted enrolment and verification services, forcing long queues, public protests and repeated apologies from the department.
Ram Thapa, Director of Information Technology at the National ID Department, attributed the latest disruption to an outdated system that has been operating since 2018 without adequate upgrades. He said the system’s processing capacity has dropped sharply and confirmed that an upgrade is underway.
According to Thapa, the maintenance work is expected to be completed within the next three to four days, after which normal verification services are expected to resume.
People’s News Monitoring Service
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