Nepal rolls out integrated digital system, faces acceptance problem with Nagarik app 

Nobody needs more paperwork especially if it’s repetitive. In Nepal the government is trying to cut down on duplicate paperwork. The way it’s gone about this? By introducing a new integrated digital service for citizens applying for citizenship certificates and national identity cards.

Nepal’s Ministry of Home Affairs announced that interoperability has now been established between the Centralized Citizenship Management Information System and the National Identity Management Information System. The two major databases previously operated separately.

Home Minister Om Prakash Aryal unveiled the reform during an inspection of the District Administration Office in Lalitpur. He told reporters that the integration will end the long-standing requirement for citizens to repeatedly submit the same personal information across different government offices.

“By linking the two systems, we have made services more citizen-friendly and efficient. People will now receive hassle-free services without duplicating paperwork,” Aryal said, as reported by Fiscal Nepal.

Applicants seeking a national ID card were required to visit designated registration centers, fill out manual forms, and then return for biometric enrolment. With the new system in place, personal data submitted for citizenship services will automatically populate national ID records, removing the need for separate forms and reducing the number of office visits.

Officials say the reform will significantly reduce both the financial burden and time investment for citizens, particularly those living far from national ID units. According to the Home Ministry, the integrated service has already been activated at 12 service points.

The government plans to expand the system nationwide in phases, ultimately enabling all citizens to access streamlined services through a unified digital portal. The initiative is part of Nepal’s ongoing efforts to modernize administrative processes, reduce bureaucratic duplication, and improve data-driven service delivery across public institutions.

A problem of acceptance with the Nagarik app

A growing number of Nepalis are frustrated with the Nagarik app, the government’s flagship digital identity platform, because many institutions still refuse to accept its verified digital documents.

Although the app is designed to let citizens use digital versions of citizenship certificates, licences, PAN cards and other IDs, The Kathmandu Post reports that users still face problems, with banks, hospitals and government offices still demanding physical copies.

Some sectors like traffic police and the Inland Revenue Department have started using the app for real‑time verification. This comes in the form of QR‑based licence checks, tax payments and digital fines, showing that it works when systems are aligned. But these apparently remain exceptions.

Officials say the main barrier is not technology but outdated laws and inconsistent institutional mandates. Regulations encourage digital verification, but many agencies still legally require physical documents. Additionally, the Department of Information Technology lacks the authority to enforce digital acceptance. As a result, digital systems are advancing faster than the legal framework that governs them.

“Regulations cannot override an Act,” Shree Chandra Shah, director general of the Department of Information Technology, told The Kathmandu Post. “If an existing law requires a physical citizenship card, that cannot be bypassed until the Act is amended.”

There is a similar problem in Pakistan but with notable differences. In Pakistan, NADRA has upheld legal acceptance of digital ID with official guidance, communicating the validity of digital documents available through Pak ID. However, citizens there who encounter refusal to accept the digital IDs may lodge complaints through official channels so that corrective action can be taken.

Nepal’s officials emphasize that the app was built for system‑based verification, not for displaying images of documents, and that broader adoption requires coordination across ministries and agencies that own the underlying data.

Digital governance experts argue that Nepal needs formal legal recognition of digital IDs, secure transactional verification mechanisms (such as QR codes with OTP), and privacy‑preserving data‑sharing models.

Article Topics

digital government  |  digital identity  |  government services  |  Nagarik App  |  Nepal