Likhit Exam Questions in Nepal: What the DOTM Question Bank Actually Asks

The likhit exam (लिखित परीक्षा) is the written test you sit before the trial. It is multiple choice, in Nepali, and it is drawn from a question bank that DOTM publishes.

That last part is the whole game. This is not an exam where you have to guess what might come up. The questions are already public. About 500 of them. If you work through the bank, there is almost nothing on the paper you have not seen.

Here is what is actually in it, where the official sets live, and what people get wrong.

Where the official questions are

DOTM publishes the sets by category:

A provincial mirror of the objective-question collection, 57 pages of it, sits at tmolicense.lumbini.gov.np.

Those are the source. Every practice site, app and PDF you will find — including mine — is a rearrangement of the same bank. So the question is never "whose questions are real". It is "which format makes you actually remember them".

How many questions, and what is the pass mark?

You will find three different answers online. Some sites say 25 questions in 30 minutes with a pass mark of 60 out of 100. Some say 50 questions with 40 needed to pass. The DOTM Category A and K booklet is cited as 20.

They cannot all be right, and no page that states one number flatly is telling you the truth about how this works.

Here is the honest position. The count and the pass mark vary by category, by office and by year. Since FY 2083/84, provinces run their own licence administration, so the variation got wider, not narrower. The notice at the office where you are sitting the exam is the only authority.

What does not vary:

• The questions come from the published bank.
• It is multiple choice with one correct answer.
• The paper is in Nepali.
• You need a clear majority correct, not a bare pass.

Prepare for the whole bank and the exact number stops mattering.

What the bank covers

Seven topics, and they are not evenly weighted. Roughly in order of how often they show up:

1. Traffic rules and law

The largest slice. Right of way, overtaking, parking, documents you must carry, what the traffic police can do, penalties.

Things that come up constantly:

• Nepal drives on the left. You overtake on the right.
• Never overtake on a bend, on a bridge, or at a pedestrian crossing.
• Speed limits commonly examined are 40 km/h in built-up areas and 80 km/h on highways. A signposted limit always wins over a remembered one.
• Helmets are compulsory for the rider and the pillion passenger.
• Drink driving is treated as zero tolerance.
• Documents: licence, bluebook (registration), insurance. Commercial vehicles also need a route permit.

2. Road signs and markings

Sign questions are the easiest marks in the exam because the answer is in the shape and colour before you read a word.

Learn the shape rule and you can answer a sign question you have never seen. The full sign guide has each group with the Nepali names.

3. Vehicle and engine knowledge

This surprises people. The bank asks about the machine, not just the road: what the clutch does, what engine oil is for, what the battery powers, why the radiator matters, what a spark plug does.

They are basic questions, but you cannot reason your way to them if you have never opened the topic. This is the section that catches confident drivers.

4. Maintenance

Tyre pressure, oil changes, brake checks, what to inspect before starting. Closely tied to the section above and usually answered by the same common sense: the option that keeps the vehicle safest is the right one.

5. Road safety and defensive driving

Following distance, mirror use, night driving, driving in rain or fog, what to do when an emergency vehicle approaches, why phones are banned.

There is a pattern here worth knowing: the safest, most cautious option is almost always correct. If two answers look plausible, pick the careful one.

6. First aid

What to do at a crash scene. Do not move an injured person unnecessarily, call for help, control bleeding, keep the airway clear.

7. Pollution and environment

Emissions, why an over-revving engine wastes fuel, why maintenance reduces pollution, the green sticker.

Example questions, and how to think about them

These are the shapes the questions take. Work out why the answer is right, not just what it is.

Which side do you overtake from in Nepal? The right. Nepal drives on the left, so overtaking traffic passes on the outside, which is the right.

A triangular sign means what? A warning. Something ahead needs your attention. It is not an order — that would be a circle.

What does the red light mean? Stop before the stop line and wait. Not "slow down". Not "go if clear".

Why keep a safe following distance? So you have time to stop. Every safety question is a version of this: give yourself time and room.

Why does engine oil matter? It reduces friction between moving parts so the engine does not seize. Oil questions are about lubrication, not fuel.

What should you do before starting the vehicle? Check around it, adjust the mirrors, put the seatbelt on. The careful answer.

Notice how often the reasoning is the same. That is why memorising answer letters fails: the bank rewords questions, and a memorised letter tells you nothing about a reworded question.

How to actually study the bank

Four rounds. This is the method that works, and it is free.

1. Read all 500 with the answers showing. Do not test yourself yet. You are just meeting the material. Two or three sittings.
2. Go again, category by category, answering first. Mark every one you got wrong. That wrong list is now your real syllabus.
3. Drill only the wrong list until it is empty. Most people find it is 80 to 120 questions, not 500.
4. Take timed mocks in the real format until you are comfortably above the pass mark twice in a row.

Do it on your phone, in Nepali. The exam is in Nepali, and studying in English then reading a Nepali paper is the single most avoidable way to lose marks.

That is the method I built Yatayat Likhit around — the whole bank with the reasoning next to each answer, automatic tracking of what you got wrong, timed mocks in the real format, and the road signs and colour-vision test in the same place. Free, offline, Nepali and English. Any tool that does those four rounds will do; the rounds are the part that matters.

Get it: Yatayat Likhit — free on iPhone and Android. The link opens your own app store.

What exam day looks like

Small things, but they are the ones nobody tells you and they cost people marks.

• Arrive early. Names are called in batches and a late arrival can be pushed to a later sitting or a later day.
• Bring your original citizenship and the receipt or token from your online application. A photocopy is not enough.
• Phones go away. Do not plan on a last look at anything.
• Read the whole question. The bank uses negative wording — "which of these is not allowed" — often enough to catch people who skim.
• Answer everything. There is no penalty for a wrong answer, so a blank is a guaranteed zero where a guess is not.
• Do the easy ones first. Sign questions take seconds. Clear them, then spend your remaining time on the engine and law questions that need thought.

Results are usually posted the same day or within a few days, depending on the office. If you pass, you move to the trial. If you do not, you reapply.

Common mistakes

• Memorising the answer letter. The wording changes. Learn the reason.
• Studying in English only. The paper is Nepali. Practise in Nepali.
• Skipping the engine and maintenance sections because they feel unrelated to driving. They are a real slice of the paper.
• Reading only "important questions" lists. They are somebody's guess at which 50 matter. The bank is 500 and you have time for all of it.
• Doing untimed practice only. Running out of time is a separate skill from knowing the answer.
• Trusting one site's question count. Check your own office notice.

Questions people ask

How many questions are in the Nepal likhit exam?

It depends on your category and office — sites variously report 20, 25 and 50. All of them are drawn from the same published bank of about 500 questions. Confirm the count on the notice at your own transport office.

Is the likhit exam in Nepali or English?

The official paper is in Nepali. Study in Nepali, even if you find English easier, so the wording on the day is familiar.

Are the questions the same for bike and car?

They overlap heavily on rules and signs, but DOTM publishes separate sets for Category A and K and for Category B, and the vehicle-knowledge questions differ.

Can I get the likhit questions as a PDF?

Yes. DOTM publishes them on the pages linked above, and a 57-page collection is mirrored on the Lumbini province transport site.

What happens if I fail the likhit?

You reapply and sit it again. You do not lose the application, but you pay again and wait for another slot.

Keep reading

• Bike and scooter questions — the Category A and K set specifically.
• Car questions — the Category B set.
• A two-week tayari plan — if the date is close.
• Every traffic sign, by shape — the easiest marks in the paper.
• Which practice app to use — judged on features you can check yourself.
• The trial exam — what comes after you pass this.