The Hindu : Front Page : Passport office to go fully online

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Saturday, Aug 16, 2008
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Passport office to go fully online

S. Anandan

Kochi: If things go as planned, the Regional Passport Office here would switch over to accepting applications only online by the end of this year.

The prevailing system only permits Tatkaal (emergency) passport applicants to make online submission of applications. But even they should file a hardcopy of the application along with self-attested copies of relevant documents while remitting the stipulated fee at the office counter, as online fee remission for passport has still to take off in the country.

Advantages

The advantage of online submission is that the particulars filled in by the eligible applicant go into the passport without any interference on the part of the authorities. This is expected to bring down complaints of inaccuracies in the document caused by official oversight. This will also speed up the entire process at a time when there has been a spurt in the number of applicants while there is no remarkable growth in the number of officials at the office.

With a jurisdiction over Alappuzha, Ernakulam, Idukki, Kottayam and Thrissur districts and the Union Territory of Lakshadweep, the office has handled 1,54, 357 applications till July 31 this year. Although the office has seven computerised counters to accept applications, only one deals with applicants who have registered online. Once submission of all applications is made online, it would make the counters less crowded as the time taken by each applicant would naturally drop.

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