Bangladesh-based firm Tiger IT has recently opened a factory in Kathmandu as part of a $43.7 million project, the biggest IT related one in Nepal, to provide digital registration plates which would ensure security in vehicle management.

In the next five years, 25 lakh registration plates will be produced under the project of the country's Department of Transport Management, said Tiger IT Assistant General Manager Rajib Choudhury.

“This is a milestone project for us, which will help us move forward at a faster pace,” he said on returning to Dhaka yesterday. It will increase security in Nepal's transport system, he added.

Physical Infrastructure and Transport Minister Bir Bahadur Balayar inaugurated the factory on Monday, producing a plate himself.

Senior government officials and Tiger IT Chief Operating Officer Gautam Bhattacharya were present at the ceremony.

Tiger IT got the same project in Bangladesh under a joint venture with Bangladesh Machine Tools Factory. They started operations in 2012 with a target of manufacturing 31 lakh registration plates.

In Nepal, they joined US-based Decatur Consortium to win the contract beating some joint ventures from developed countries through a competitive and open international bidding.

The consortium signed a contract with the ministry on May 30, 2016 to provide materials, hardware, software, and relevant services for owner enrolment and production of high security embossed vehicle registration plates.

Established in 2000, Tiger IT is leading the way in Southeast Asia in identification related software and undertaking national identification and immigration related projects.

They earlier provided machine readable passports in Nepal and national identity cards and biometric ID services for immigration and border control of Bhutan.

In 2008, they developed software solutions for national identity cards and voter registration in Bangladesh, a project that involved around 10 crore people.

It earlier ran international projects in the USA, Canada, UK, Moldova, Tajikistan, Kenya, India, Nepal, Bhutan and Cambodia, among others.

It has offices in the USA, UK and Poland, apart from Dhaka.

Under the Nepal project, each vehicle owners will get two embossed aluminum plates containing an RFID sticker, said Choudhury.

This plate will limit crimes making use of vehicles by preventing counterfeiting and manual replacement of number plates.

Biometric enrolment will prevent impostors from registering vehicles in their name whilst the ability to quickly check the vehicle data against the RFID stickers will allow law enforcement to track down stolen vehicles more effectively.

The RFID stickers will also help the government expand tax and toll collections, as they facilitate automated monitoring of vehicles on the road.

Incorporation of the vehicle owner's data with that of the registration plates will take place in a high security facility.

New enrolment stations will be installed in transport management offices throughout the country, which will communicate online with the centralised Kathmandu-based central system. 

At the core of the system is a central database of vehicles and their owners. This database may also be made available to law enforcement agencies if required.

Overall this system will boosts transparency and accountability of the transport management department. Citizens will have easier access to related services and the government will benefit with increased revenue in taxes and tolls.