The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : Better service now at the Passport Office

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Jul 06, 2005

Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

Better service now at the Passport Office

Staff Reporter

BANGALORE: When it is blazing hot or raining outside, you can now wait in some comfort at a specially designated room at the Regional Passport Office on Brunton Road. The office has also stepped up action to introduce some applicant-friendly measures. For one, officers have found that if the accompanying documents are in order, the application can be processed faster and passports can be issued or renewed without much delay.

Now there will be a dedicated superintendent-level officer to supervise the acceptance of application forms at each counter at the office. This will not only save those submitting applications the effort of having to return to the office to resubmit documents, but also make sure that the documentation is as complete as possible at the acceptance stage itself.

The number of counters accepting applications, for normal and tatkal cases, is being increased to four. The timing for submitting online application forms is being shifted to the forenoon to make efficient use of the manpower available at the counters during the morning hours.

This is to ensure that the afternoon hours are used effectively to process the applications that have been submitted at the office. Applications sent through travel agents will continue to be accepted between 2.30 p.m. and 5. 30 p.m. These changes are in addition to the Speed Post counters at several of the main post offices that sell and accept passport application forms.

The postal department has asked these post offices to directly send the applications to the jurisdictional police for verification.

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Karnataka