COVID-19: Government launches epass system for essential services

The government of Nepal initiates an epass portal to take requests for urgent permission and deliver the pass through SMS in this COVID-19 lockdown.

Due to the threat of COVID-19 in Nepal, the government has extended the time period of the lockdown which can be expected to go furthermore. This has caused a lot of inconvenience for the citizen and the queue outside the CDO office to get the pass also has a high probability of spreading the virus. In order to address the problem, the Nepal Government has arranged a system to get epass online to operate vehicles on the road. This service is available only for emergency and most-essential works.

A program held at the Ministry Of Home Affairs announced the online form fillup to get the pass for food transportation, sick patient transport, carrying corpses, and other necessary works. Earlier Government had provided such permits to some stores and online shops for the home delivery of groceries for the lockdown period.

So, the District Administration Office will distribute the pass as per the urgent need of the individual, proven by the evidence. Home Minister Ram Bahadur Thapa said that the government will facilitate the pass distribution by a new process. Consequently, the  District Administration Office (DAO) will distribute the vehicle pass according to the proof provided by the people in the form.

This online pass service is available from Tuesday i.e. 14th April 2020.

How to apply for e-pass?

Here is the detailed process to get the pass for your requirement either press or health checkup or any emergency reasons.

• To apply for the e-pass, you need to visit the portal of the Ministry of Home affairs. You also need to fill a form at http://epass.moha.gov.np/
• You can also choose the English language for the form, by selecting it at the top.

• The details you need to fill up there are:
  • Name, Mobile, Address, location for permission, district, government-issued ID card, and number.
  • Upload the photo of the ID card.
  • Type of permission and the reason.
  • Duration of pass that you require
  • Vehicle type and number
  • Upload any additional supporting documents for the need to travel (Hospital Document, Recommendation for Organization, etc.)

How does epass work?

As mentioned above, you need to fill out the general information and the reason to get the pass. After this, if you are a journalist, then you should submit press pass otherwise for essential services, you can enter the details of the company.

READ Nepal performing contact tracing to curtail the spread of COVID-19

For traveling out of the city, you can also choose a destination like Dhading to Kathmandu. Then, you have to submit the form and then the DAO will accept or reject your appeal as per the supporting document and urgency. If you get accepted then you will receive a 6-digit code. Then you can travel with that code to your destination. The police will check the code from their phone for permission to travel outside along with details. This is how the system works.

Find the sample of the epass, which has the confirmation of the request and the approval of the pass with a code and validity for your vehicle.

Problems

Many people are taking the complaints to social networks like Fb, twitter for the problems for getting epass. Here are a few of them.

• Have not got a response for the epass, from more than 10 hours. It seems the delay in response is due to the huge number of applications and the working hour issue. We recommend applying in the day time to get a faster response.
• Got the unreadable font in the response from 1112. This is due to either issue in the SMS format or font from the sender or the issue in the handset itself. This issue is found for limited personnel.

As a conclusion, we can say that the Government has proved its concern for the people. By giving this service, the Nepal Government has put a step forward to make the life of its citizen easier during this time. But the question remains if it really works as we have seen people complaining of no response from the morning. We believe that we will soon get over this problem and get a normal life.

Till then stay home and stay safe. Make the most out of the internet in this lockdown, we recommend you read the top ten productive use of the internet.

Update: Problems added as we see complaints from the people regarding the government epass for most essential vehicles and transport. (April 15, 2020)

Tell us what do you think of the online pass system launched by the government in this difficult situation.