KATHMANDU: Nepal's e-passport online application system has not yet fully recovered, which worries citizens who need passports immediately.
There was only one working system for processing applications at the District Administration Office (DAO), Kathmandu, and many computers were non-functional owing to malware problems, which frustrated service seekers.
Delays were caused by the removal of several computers to eliminate infections, according to a DAO employee. Only one staff member was on hand to help applicants in the passport area on Friday.
Even the Passport Department in Tripureshwor had similar difficulties, the employee said, acknowledging the backlog and explaining that attempts were being made to resolve the technical issues.
The Department of Passports (DoP) Director, Rabindra Rajbhandari, stated that full restoration of online services across district and area administration offices (DAOs and AAOs) and Nepali missions abroad is expected by December 13.
As of now, 30 districts and 12 Nepali missions abroad require detailed problem assessments. Meanwhile, complete or partial services have resumed in 25 missions and 50 administrative offices.
Rajbhandari noted that over 225 locations, including DAOs and AAOs, have been screened for malware with assistance from IDEMIA, the French company responsible for Nepal’s e-passport system.
The technical teams are still working to find and fix the problems, and they anticipate that services will be restored across the country by the deadline.
Rajbhandari stressed that no place is totally non-functional, even though some services are available at different levels.
In 2020, IDEMIA first obtained a contract for Nepal to print two million e-passports. In July 2023, they negotiated a second deal for an additional 2.8 million biometric passports.
"The malware issue has been linked to the use of personal USB devices and pen drives, and preliminary investigations have ruled out external breaches or targeted cyberattacks," Rajbhandari stated.
Crucially, Rajbhandari guaranteed that no data or private information had been compromised and that all login passwords for the various offices were still safe.
As soon as the problem surfaced on November 20, the DoP suspended services across the country to protect citizen data. As security measures were put in place, partial functioning was progressively restored.
There has been some success at the Passport Department Office in Tripureshwor in identifying and resolving district-specific difficulties through technology analysis and manual processing.
Rajbhandari claims that the Tripureshwor office is still issuing passports without incident, particularly in emergency situations.
Nonetheless, a lot of applicants complain about ongoing delays. A service seeker from Rajbiraj, Saptari named Prakash Chand expressed his annoyance at not getting his passport after three days at the Tripureshwor office.
Chand said he had trouble organizing his time in Kathmandu since he kept going to the passport office without getting anything done.
In a recent public notice, the DoP expressed regret for the interruptions and guaranteed that applications, including biometrics, those had already been submitted were being processed and sent via the usual routes.
During this time, passports were only granted for expedited services at specific offices, highlighting the difficulties both applicants and the administration faced.
