The days of long wait and multiple procedures for getting passport will be a thing of past. The applicants will now get the passport within a week after submitting the relevant documents and police verification.
The Ministry of External Affairs has decided to simplify the process for police verification by making a provision for online verification. The passport will now be issued after verification without any additional fees, regional passport officer Shimla, Praveen Mohan Sahay said. The main reason for delay in issue of passport was long police verification process.
The applicants had to run from pillar to post to complete various procedures. Now this will be cut drastically short.
The applicant will now be required to submit copy of Aadhaar card, voters ID card, bank account number and PAN card along with the application. These documents could also be verified online if required, Sahay added.
There has been sharp increase in the number of applicants. The regional passport office issued 41,617 passports in 2015 as compared to 32,697 in 2014. Una, Kangra, Mandi and Shimla were among the top four districts in seeking passport. The revenue earned by the department also increased by 20 per cent from Rs 5.95 crore in 2014 to 7.11 crore in 2015. Similarly, the number of applications for new passports also increased from 33,154 to 40,444.
Sahey said the department had been able to completely eliminate the agents and applicants can fill the application online with maximum fees of Rs 100.
The Ministry of External Affairs has decided to simplify the process for police verification by making a provision for online verification. The passport will now be issued after verification without any additional fees, regional passport officer Shimla, Praveen Mohan Sahay said. The main reason for delay in issue of passport was long police verification process.
The applicants had to run from pillar to post to complete various procedures. Now this will be cut drastically short.
The applicant will now be required to submit copy of Aadhaar card, voters ID card, bank account number and PAN card along with the application. These documents could also be verified online if required, Sahay added.
There has been sharp increase in the number of applicants. The regional passport office issued 41,617 passports in 2015 as compared to 32,697 in 2014. Una, Kangra, Mandi and Shimla were among the top four districts in seeking passport. The revenue earned by the department also increased by 20 per cent from Rs 5.95 crore in 2014 to 7.11 crore in 2015. Similarly, the number of applications for new passports also increased from 33,154 to 40,444.
Sahey said the department had been able to completely eliminate the agents and applicants can fill the application online with maximum fees of Rs 100.
