KATHMANDU: Nepal’s National ID system is facing verification issues that are preventing government agencies from validating citizens’ details online, forcing authorities to adopt temporary manual verification while technical fixes are underway.

The National ID and Civil Registration Department has acknowledged technical problems in its online verification system, affecting multiple government services linked to the National ID database.

Director General Krishna Poudel said the issue lies in the inability of connected agencies to verify an individual’s National ID number and personal details through the online platform, despite the data being registered in the department’s system.

To minimize disruption, the department has deployed 12 staff members in two shifts at the Department of Passports to manually verify applicants. The problem became more visible after a surge in passport and EPS-related applications increased demand for online verification.

According to the department, personal information is still being collected at District Administration Offices and other enrollment centers, but agencies are unable to confirm identities electronically because of the system malfunction. Officials said they are working with the software developer and the department’s IT team to restore full functionality.

The department also reported that one of its card-printing machines remains under repair, although around 3,000 National ID cards are currently being printed daily.

So far, National ID numbers have been issued to around 20 million Nepalis, while 8 million cards have been printed and 4.5 million distributed. The department says printing capacity will increase significantly once technical issues are resolved.