The Department of Transport Management (DoTM) has announced to halt the printing of urgent driving licenses for three days starting June 10 due to maintenance work.
In a notice issued on Wednesday, the department said the smart card printer used for urgent license printing requires repair.
Applicants who need urgent licenses are advised to submit and get their applications approved by Sunday, June 8.
Earlier, the department had suspended license printing for a week from May 8 after encountering similar technical issues. Less than a month since the resumption, the printer has once again encountered problems.
The government has been issuing urgent driving licenses to students admitted to overseas universities, as well as to servicemen including police and army personnel deployed in UN peacekeeping missions, on a fast-track basis.
Officials say that smart driving licenses for urgent cases are typically issued within three days, provided that the applicants furnish visas, deployment letters, and other relevant documents.
On the other hand, printing of driving licenses for the general public has remained largely stalled for over two years due to limited printing capacity and technical issues. According to the department, the backlog of unprinted licenses currently exceeds 700,000.
