Government offices across Nepal will open at 9am and close at 4pm starting tomorrow, Kartik 16, as the country's civil administration switches to its winter schedule. According to a notice published earlier in the Nepal Gazette by the Ministry of Home Affairs, the revised timing will remain in force until Magh 15 and covers government offices, public bodies and institutions other than educational institutions.

Winter Schedule Takes Effect From Kartik 16

From tomorrow, the working day for Nepal's government offices will run from 9am to 4pm. The arrangement, set out as the winter schedule, comes into effect on Kartik 16 of the Bikram Sambat calendar, the official calendar used in Nepal, and stays in place through Magh 15. Since Kartik falls roughly between mid-October and mid-November, and Magh between mid-January and mid-February, the winter window spans a period of approximately three months, taking in the second half of Kartik, the full months of Mangsir and Poush, and the first half of Magh.

The timing is not a fresh announcement made this week but the operation of a notice published earlier in the Nepal Gazette, the official journal through which the government communicates decisions of general application. The Ministry of Home Affairs issued the notice, and its publication in the Gazette gives the winter hours formal effect across the public sector. As reported by RatoPati, the new hours begin tomorrow, and Global Aawaj likewise confirmed the 9am to 4pm window for the winter period.

Key Details at a Glance

  • New office hours: 9am to 4pm
  • Effective date: Kartik 16, starting tomorrow
  • End date: Magh 15
  • Basis: winter schedule, notified through the Nepal Gazette
  • Issuing authority: Ministry of Home Affairs
  • Coverage: government offices, public bodies and institutions other than educational institutions

Which Offices Are Covered

The revised schedule applies broadly across the state machinery. Government offices, public bodies and institutions other than educational institutions will all operate on the new timing. In practical terms, this takes in the ministries, departments and administrative units that citizens approach daily for services, as well as the wider range of public bodies functioning under the government's overall framework. For all of these, the Gazette notice leaves the position clear: between Kartik 16 and Magh 15, the office day begins at 9am and ends at 4pm.

Educational institutions fall outside the arrangement. The notice specifies that the winter schedule applies to institutions other than educational institutions, so schools and campuses will not shift to the 9am to 4pm window on the strength of this decision. Their daily timings continue to be governed by their own academic calendars rather than by the office-hours notice published by the Ministry of Home Affairs.

A Familiar Seasonal Rhythm

The switch to winter hours is a familiar feature of Nepal's administrative calendar. Instead of a single year-round timetable, the government operates seasonal schedules, with the winter schedule defined by fixed dates in the Bikram Sambat calendar and announced formally in advance through the Nepal Gazette. The current notice follows that established pattern: it fixes the winter window from Kartik 16 to Magh 15 and sets out the hours that apply within it, allowing the change to take effect automatically once the date arrives.

The choice of the Gazette as the channel for the announcement carries weight for both offices and the public. Publication places the schedule on the official record, enabling government bodies to arrange staffing, service counters and public-facing operations around the new hours, while giving citizens a single authoritative reference for when offices will be open during the winter months. Because the notice was published earlier rather than at the last moment, institutions and service seekers alike have had advance notice of the switch before it takes effect tomorrow.

What It Means for Service Seekers

For members of the public, the immediate change is the shape of the official working day. From tomorrow, any visit to a government office or public body must fall within the 9am to 4pm window, whether the purpose is submitting an application, collecting a document, registering a case or following up on pending administrative work. Offices will close at 4pm for the duration of the winter schedule, and the timing applies uniformly across the offices and bodies covered by the notice.

The fixed end date also offers clarity about what follows. The 9am to 4pm schedule remains in place until Magh 15, after which offices move beyond the winter window defined in the notice. Until that date, the timing published by the Ministry of Home Affairs through the Nepal Gazette stands as the operative schedule for government offices, public bodies and institutions other than educational institutions across the country, and service seekers are advised to plan their visits accordingly during the winter period.