This thesis explores the challenges and opportunities associated with implementing an electronic building permit system (e-BPS) in Kathmandu Valley. Many municipalities are facing delay in building permit after implementing e-BPS. Because of this, the building permit process is being disturbed. Although the e-BPS has various benefits, it also has multiple obstacles and threats. Rapid urbanization and increasing demands for efficient public administration, the change to e-governance create challenges and opportunities. The study was conducted to discover the challenges and opportunities faced by municipal engineers, sub- engineers, and assistant sub-engineers after implementing e-BPS. The study was done in Kathmandu Valley’s municipalities where e-BPS was implemented. 11 municipalities of Kathmandu Valley had already implemented the e-BPS. A 5-point Likert scale questionnaire was prepared from FGD with the engineers of different municipalities. The significant challenges municipal engineers, sub-engineers, and assistant sub-engineers faced after the implementation of e-BPS were technological, maintenance, and sustainability challenges. 71 respondents responded from different municipalities of Kathmandu Valley. The respondents responded to the questionnaires regarding challenges, opportunities, and remedial measures to implement e-BPS effectively. Cronbach's Alpha reliability test using SPSS software and MS Excel were used for the reliability test of the respondents, which was acceptable. The data was analysed using a relative importance index (RII). The data from ten different municipalities of Kathmandu Valley except Changunarayan municipalities were analysed and data of Changunarayan municipality was analysed separately and discussed. KII with e-BPS software developers and the chief engineer of Kageshwori Manohara municipality and the engineer of Changunarayan municipality was conducted for reasons behind the outcomes of challenges, opportunities and remedial measures for effective implementation of e-BPS. The study’s findings show that e-BPS presents major challenges such as lack of integration with other relevant system such and GIS, planning, mapping, survey, etc. and lack of annual maintenance contract with vendors. The finding shows that the e-BPS presents major viii opportunities such as automated report generations and minimizing error duplication and repetition in permit applications. The major remedial measures were found to be real time technical support, regular update and maintenance and annual maintenance contract with software vendors. The study recommends the probable solutions for better execution of e-BPS as integration with other relevant systems and departments, updating e-BPS to new versions, AMC for regular system updates, digital signatures to make a paperless system, an inbuilt real-time technical support system, and an effective inspection system.

Keywords

e-Governance, e-BPS, enhance transparency, ensured regulatory compliance, increased accuracy and error reduction.

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