Nepal Driving Licence 2083: The Complete Guide to Likhit, Trial and the New Online System

Getting a driving licence in Nepal changed in 2083. The old central website, applydl.dotm.gov.np, no longer opens. Nothing national replaced it. Since Shrawan 1, 2083, each of the seven provinces runs its own portal, and the one you need depends on where you live.

Almost every guide you will find still tells you to use the old site. That is why so many people are stuck at step one.

This page is the map for the whole process: apply online, medical, written exam (likhit pariksha, लिखित परीक्षा), trial, and collecting the smart card. Each step links to a full guide. Read this one first, then open the step you are on.

One small thing first, because it confuses people searching: you will see both driving licence and driving license. They are the same document. DOTM's own English pages use "driver's license", most Nepali sites use "licence", and neither spelling means anything different. This guide uses "licence" throughout.

The process, start to finish

Steps 1 to 3 are now fully online. Steps 4 to 8 still need you in person.

Step 1: find your province portal

This is the part that trips people up, so it comes first. There is no single national website any more. Open the portal for the province where you will take the exam.

Bagmati's address is spelled bagamati, with an extra "a". That is not a mistake in this table. Type it exactly.

Every portal offers the same six services. Three are for licences: new application, renewal and duplicate (नवीकरण तथा प्रतिलिपि अनुरोध), and adding a category. Three are for vehicles: registration, tax payment, and ownership transfer.

The full breakdown, including which ministry runs each portal and what to do if your province site is down, is in the eDLVRS guide.

Step 2: pick the right category

Most people need one of three:

• A — motorcycle above 50cc. Minimum age 16.
• K — scooter and moped up to 50cc. Minimum age 16.
• B — car, jeep, van, pickup. Minimum age 18.

Everything above B is commercial and needs experience on a lighter licence first. The full category list covers C, D, E and the rest.

Pick carefully. Changing category later means paying the category-add fee and sitting the trial again.

Step 3: the medical and eye test

You will be checked for eyesight and colour vision. Visual acuity is generally expected to be 6/12 or better, glasses allowed.

Mild colour blindness does not normally stop you getting a standard licence. Severe deficiency may bring a restriction or need a further check from an eye hospital. It is worth testing yourself at home before the day so nothing is a surprise. What the eye test actually checks walks through it.

Step 4: the written exam (likhit)

The likhit is multiple choice, in Nepali, and drawn from a published DOTM question bank of about 500 questions. DOTM puts the sets online per category:

• Category B: dotm.gov.np/content/111/-b--written-examination-questions-for-class-2082-83/
• Category A and K: dotm.gov.np/content/112/written-test-questions-2082-83-for--ak--class/

Be careful with the numbers you read elsewhere. Some sites say 25 questions, some say 50, some say 20. They cannot all be right. The count and the pass mark vary by category, by office and by year. The notice at your own transport office is the only authority. What does not vary is the source: the questions come from that bank, so if you know the bank, you pass.

The honest way to prepare is to work through all 500 with the answers, then take timed mocks until you stop making the same mistakes. That is exactly what Yatayat Likhit does — a free app I built after watching how many people fail on questions they had technically already seen.

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

Start with what the question bank asks, then go to your category: bike and scooter or car.

Step 5: the trial

The practical test. Scored out of 100 across about seven stations, and most offices pass you at 70 rather than failing you for one mistake.

For bike and scooter, the figure-8 (आठको घेरा) is worth the most points and is where most people lose the test. The circle is roughly 4 metres across. A foot down costs points. Touching the line costs points.

For car, it is the figure-8 without touching the boundary, a hill start without rolling back, and parking.

Every station and how people fail has the detail.

Step 6: after you pass

Three things people ask about constantly, each with its own guide:

• Is my card printed yet? Print lists are published in batches and update every two to four weeks. How to check properly.
• How do I renew? There is a 35-day grace period after expiry that almost nobody mentions. Renewal, step by step.
• I lost it. Traffic police recommendation first, then the duplicate request on your province portal. The pratilipi process.

What it costs

This changed too, and it is the second biggest source of wrong information online.

Since FY 2083/84, each province sets its own driving licence fees. Bagmati, Koshi, Gandaki and Karnali roughly doubled theirs. Madhesh and Lumbini kept the old rates. So any page showing one national fee table is wrong somewhere.

Reported figures: a new licence runs about NPR 2,000 to 2,500 in the provinces that did not raise fees, and about NPR 4,000 to 5,000 in Bagmati. Renewal is around NPR 800 for category A and NPR 1,000 for B. The smart card print is NPR 200.

Treat those as a guide and check the real number on your own province portal before you pay. The full fee breakdown explains what changed and why.

Common mistakes

• Using the old website. applydl.dotm.gov.np is dead. Use your province portal.
• Applying in the wrong province. Apply where you will actually sit the exam, not where you were born.
• Believing one fee table. Fees are provincial now.
• Memorising answers instead of learning them. The paper is drawn from the bank, not copied from it. Learn why an answer is right.
• Skipping the figure-8 practice. It is the single biggest cause of trial failure, and the only one you can fix for free before the day.
• Going to collect the card without checking the print list. A wasted trip.

Questions people ask

Why is applydl.dotm.gov.np not working?

It was retired. Driving licence services moved to seven province-run eDLVRS portals on Shrawan 1, 2083. Use the portal for your province from the table above.

How long does the whole process take?

The online part takes an hour. After that it depends on the appointment quota at your office, which can mean a wait of days or weeks. Once you are in, the biometrics, medical, likhit and trial are usually spread over a few visits.

Can I take the likhit exam in English?

The official paper is in Nepali. Practise in Nepali even if you study in English, so the wording on the day is familiar.

What happens if I fail the likhit or the trial?

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

Do I need to go to a driving school?

No, it is not required. It helps most for the trial, especially the figure-8 in a car. The likhit you can prepare for on your own for free.

Keep reading

• eDLVRS: your province portal — start here, because nothing else works until this step does.
• What the likhit question bank asks — the topics, with real examples.
• The trial exam, station by station — where the points actually go.
• A two-week tayari plan — if your exam date is close.
• Age limits and documents — before you open the form.
• Transport office contacts — every office site and email.
• Exam dates and results — where they are actually published.
• Traffic fines and rules — what each violation costs.
• What it all costs now — province by province.