Nagarik App — you might have it on your phone, or at least heard about it. It is presented as if it is THE way to achieve the goal of digital Nepal. But is it? Let’s discuss further in this article along with the things you can do on the Nagarik App.
Nagarik App Overview
What is the Nagarik App?
The Nagarik App is a one-stop platform where you can find all your legal documentation developed by the Nepal Government. The app includes different types of personal documents and educational certifications. In addition, you can request different governmental services and documents through the app.
Its beta was available on 15 January 2021 and Nagarik App was formally launched on National ICT Day (2 May) the same year. The app carries the slogan “support of communication and information technology, government services hand in hand”. Since its release, it has amassed over 800,000 downloads altogether. The services on the app have also been expanding since its release.
What’s in the Nagarik App?
You can find numerous features and services in the Nagarik App. The app has been deeply integrated with the SIM card to ensure user identity and security. Meanwhile, there are a total of 25 segments of services available in the app as of now.
A) SIM Card Integration
To register in the Nagarik App, you’ll have to enter your mobile number. After which you will receive an OTP to proceed. Then you will be asked to verify with any of the following documents:
- Citizenship
- Driving Licence (Smart Only)
- Passport
- Voter Card
The point to be noted here is the Citizen App Operation Guideline – 2077 requires you to have the phone number registered in your name. Hence, you can only use Nagarik App if you have a SIM. This SIM integration ensures that no one else can misuse your details while also safeguarding your privacy.
B) Legal ID
The Nagarik App serves as a one-stop location for all legal IDs. You can access the many different documents from the app, however, you will have to link them for the first time (except for citizenship). Here are all the legal IDs you can link and access through the Nagarik App:
1. Citizenship
Citizenship is the most important document that indicates that you are a citizen of any given country. Once you register into the app, the Nagarik App taps into the CIMS (Citizenship Information Management System) database to extract your citizenship details.
Still, it asks you to confirm if the document information being displayed on the Nagarik App is correct or not. You can request correction if any info is incorrect. After this, you can easily access your citizenship details right from the app apart from the photograph and fingerprint.
2. Permanent Account Number (PAN)
It also has access to IRD (Inland Revenue Department) allowing you to get legitimate details of your PAN card. You can also access your tax history right from the app.
The cherry on top is, you can apply for a PAN card through the Nagarik App if you don’t already have it!
3. Driving Licence
Likewise, you can link and display your driving licence through the Nagarik app. However, this service is only available for those with a digital driving licence. Additionally, you can check the traffic rule violation record as well.
The app pulls this information through the Department of Transport Management. While the app does allow you to link a pre-existing digital driving licence, you cannot apply for a new one like a PAN card. Or even check the license print status.
- Meanwhile, here is how to apply for a driving licence online in Nepal
4. Passport
Similarly, you can also like your passport on the Nagarik app. However, it is unclear if only e-passports can be linked to the app or the old ones too.
In the meantime, check out how to apply for an e-passport.
5. Voter Card
Another one of the legal IDs that you can link in the Nagarik app is your Voter Card. The information displayed here is extracted from the books of the Election Commission which oversees the issuance and datakeeping of everything related to elections.
C) Personal Certificates
Apart from the legal IDs you can also link and access other personal certificates. Such as:
1. Educational Certificates
You can link the graduation certificates of your national-level examination from grades 10 and 12. This means you access SLC/SEE as well as HSEB/NEB certificates on the Nagarik app.
- In the meantime you can also read on how to check your SLC/SEE result and check HSEB/NEB Result.
Sadly, you cannot link your Bachelor’s or higher degree on the app as of now. Hopefully in the future.
2. Health Insurance
The next service you can link to the Nagrik app is your state-offered health insurance details. In other words, you can get the details of the service you are receiving from the Health Insurance Board (HIB).
However, it appears that the HIB database is not up to date. This is because when I tried linking by insurance to the app, it could not find it. This could be an issue for the folks from Kathmandu and Lalitpur only, as those districts were the last to receive the service.
3. Electricity
The Nagarik app also supports the linking of Nepal Electricity Authority IDs. You need not have your name on the metre box to link the NEA ID. After linking, you can check the statement and the issued electricity bills.
4. Drinking Water
You can also link your drinking water — more specifically KUKL ID, to the Nagarik app. KUKL if you don’t know, is a semi-government entity that oversees the drinking water supply in the Kathmandu Valley.
By linking your KUKL ID to the Nagarik app, you can see the billing details on your drinking water connection.
5. Land
Similarly, you can enter the 11-character Landowner Identification Number and have your land linked to the Nagarik app. The service is also known and is cited in the app as Malpot.
D) Funds
Along with the extremely essential personal details, the Nagarik app also has a record of the funds you have contributed to. There are three fund details you can check:
- Citizen Investment Trust (CIT)
- Social Security Fund
- Employee Provident Fund
E) Services
Similar to how you can apply for a PAN card in the Nagarik app, you can also apply for other services. Such as:
1. Police Clearance Report
When applying for the Police Clearance Report through the Nagarik app, the applicated goes straight to Nepal Police Headquarter. After the process is complete, you can also download the report straight from the app.
If you require the Police Clearance Report for purposes inside the country, having linked citizenship is sufficient. However, if you need to apply for your visa, you need to have your passport linked.
2. NOC
Similarly, you can also apply for the No Objection Certificate (NOC) for foreign studies. The app allows you to fill out the entire form for the certificate.
3. DOFE
Services related to the Department of Foreign Employment are available in the Nagarik app too. But you will have to link your passport to access them.
4. Lok Sewa
Lok Sewa is a coveted exam that one must clear to secure a government job. And to take that examination, you need a Lok Sewa Master ID. You can apply for a new one through the Nagarik app. Meanwhile, if you already have one, you can apply for various government vacancies accordingly.
5. Hello Sarkar
The “Hello Sarkar” is a feature where you lodge a complaint about any of your issues. You can also see the complaints other countrymen have dropped.
6. Nagarik Pahichaan Dwar
The Nagarik Pahichaan Dwar was one of the most interesting features brought forth when the Nagarik app was launched. This feature was designed such that banks or any other institution could access all the necessary details through the app.
For this to work, the bank would have a QR code, which you would scan, and the bank would receive all the necessary documents including Voter ID, Citizen profile, mobile number, citizenship details, and passport details. Nepal Bank and Siddhartha Bank went ahead with this partnership, however, it could not catch on as expected.
F) Other IDs
There are a handful of other IDs that you can link in the Nagarik app. This includes:
1. PMEP
PMEP i.e. Prime Minister Employment Programme was brought forth such that individuals could find employment opportunities more easily. If you are enrolled on the programme and have a PMEP ID, you can link it to the Nagarik app.
2. Press ID
If you are a reporter under the Department of Information Broadcasting (DOIB) or Communication Registration Office (CRO), Bagmati, then you can link your press ID into the app as well.
3. Kitab Khana
Under Kitab Khana, records of government personnel are recorded. Here, you can link the Personnel Information System (PIS) and view the available information. This ID falls under the Department of National Personnel Records (Civil). The department oversees and ensures that all the personnel are receiving the services and pensions they are entitled to.
G) Information Access
Along with all the personal details and services, you can also get other information through the Nagarik app. This info might come in handy in your day-to-day lives, so having it at your disposal is always great.
1. My Municipality
Under this feature, you can find all the necessary information about the municipality all across the country. Here you can find the number of wards, their members and contact numbers, prime location in the municipality, the budget, and so on.
2. Nearby Police Stations
Likewise, you can also find the police station nearby with the “Nepal Police” feature. When I tried, the feature was unfortunately not working. I hope it gets fixed very soon as it is a really useful and important feature.
3. FOREX
You can also check the Forex rate a.k.a exchange rate of Nepali Rupees to 21 different currencies. You can also calculate the exchange amount as per the current exchange rate.
4. Weather Forecast
Lastly, you can also check that particular day’s weather forecast. It includes the maximum and minimum temperature, and rainfall amount at 20 different locations across the country.
H) Frozen / Discontinued Services
While the Nagarik app surely has a lot of features and services, some of them just don’t work. There are two such services:
1. COVID Vaccination
The app introduced this feature during the coronavirus pandemic. With this feature, the government ought to streamline the applications for vaccination. In the meantime, also to provide documentation of those who were already vaccinated. Given the vaccination card was a very precious document at the time, it made sense to include it in the app.
However, this feature miserably failed as vaccinations were provided regardless of pre-registration. On the other hand, those who applied for the inclusion of vaccination cards into their documents never heard of it after that. It’s been years since the pandemic has passed, but the verification of vaccination cards is still pending because “they are taking time to verify due to overwhelming applications.”
2. VRS
Vehicle Registration System (VRS) was one of the highly praised features that was embedded into the app. With this feature, users could view their vehicle details, update it, view tax details of the vehicle, and best of all — PAY the vehicle tax.
Paying the vehicle tax has always been a bothersome process in Nepal complete with long lines. Thus, the Nagarik app allowing you to pay the vehicle tax through it was quite revolutionary and highly popular. But good things don’t last forever, I guess. For some unknown reason or complication, the app got rid of the VRS feature entirely without even elaborating why.
Will the Nagarik App help build a digital Nepal?
Well, sort of! It was a step towards the right direction, at least. But the implementation of it so far has been poor, to say the least. As I was covering the features of the Nagarik app, I mentioned quite a few times that those features were not working. Similarly, an app like this needs to widen its services for the country to go digital. But, quite the opposite is going on as the app got rid of a useful feature like the VRS instead.
Then there is a whole other issue of credibility. It appears that the government bodies aren’t ready to embrace the digital future just yet. A public statement was made stating that traffic police would accept vehicle owners showing their licence through the Nagarik app. However, the very day traffic police requested to still carry the original. It was as if they were saying — we don’t think the thing you show on the app is real enough. This comes even though the app extracts the licence info from the DOTM database itself, and you can even see the past violations right at the side.
Nagarik App: Conclusion
Despite being a very good attempt, authorities aren’t treating the Nagarik seriously enough for it to have a substantial impact on building a digital Nepal. The authorities should focus on the app as it has a huge potential. Every year Nepal spends billions of Nepali rupees on printing driving licences alone. The number must be even higher when considering all the other documents.
While some nations are transporting the entire geography of the country to the digital world, we are struggling with just transporting our documentation. The whole ordeal is saddening. Hence, authorities must shift their focus to developing the Nagarik app such that it can save the government a lot of money, and offer citizens the convenience of technology.
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