On paper, there are no agents or touts who facilitate appointments in the passport-issuing process. On the ground, the story's different — there are several instances of passport applicants seeking the help of touts to avoid getting stranded in the endless wait for appointments.
While applicants claim their efforts to get an online appointment have sometimes dragged on for months, travel agents and touts claim they can arrange a meeting with officials in 14-21 days.
Karuna Patil, who's working with an IT major, discovered this the hard way. When her company asked her to produce a passport as identity proof, she had to run from pillar to post. Karuna, from Shimoga, couldn't get an online appointment for over two months. Frustrated, she paid an agent in her hometown to get an appointment and got one within two weeks.
"This shows that agents have their way in passport services. The common man is forced to go through them," said Karuna's father Venu Patil , who came from Shimoga to Bangalore to assist his daughter.
Recently, the ministry of external affairs decided to make it mandatory for applicants to pay fees online while making appointments with passport offices on the web. But touts and agents are still able to set up appointments with the help of their contacts in the passport office.
Mohammed Azam, from Mysore, told TOI he tried applying for a new passport for himself and his daughter while trying to renew his wife's passport. "We tried to get an online appointment for the three of us, but the appointment letter had just me and my wife. I went to an internet cafe and tried to get the online appointment for my daughter, but failed to get one even after trying for two weeks. We went to a travel agent for an appointment for my daughter and he got one in just two days," he said.
Thanks to TOI for bringing ou this article. See how our country is using Technology and making life togh.
When such demand for slots exists, how is that online slot booking gets closed every day in few secounds. This iself shows things are not fine with PSK's and look at 4 centers for Karnataka state. Is this what we call e-governance???
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Adhaar as UID is Number, a card or both???
Confusion over whether the unique identity number is a number, a card or both, and concerns over UID and the National Population Register duplicating functions prompted the Cabinet to refer UPA-2's ambitious project to a group of ministers.
The Cabinet discussion on Thursday revealed that the ministerial panel was not immune from contradictory and blurred perceptions about Aadhaar, as UID is known, with some ministers saying they had received a card along with a number.
Those who voiced doubts about UID's format included coal minister Sriprakash Jaiswal, minister for social justice and empowerment Selja, minister for heavy industry Praful Patel and railway minister Pawan Bansal.
For more read here
Demand and Supply!
Talking of limited slots for appointments to enroll into Aadhar program or applying for passport is definitely a sore point among citizens. It definitely needs to be expand exponentially to meet the rush. I could only conclude it as capacity issue than anything else.
Recently my sister-in-law and my niece was able to apply for the passport as well as enroll for Aadhar number without having to use the touts. Off-coarse it was a great deal to book a slot for passport application.
Easier job is to criticize it. Most difficult is to suggest remedies that resolves the issues. Definitely a fit case for understanding the issues in PSKs, Aadhar enrollment etc.
Governance is not all about technology, ease etc. It is more about willingness to make it easy.
Recently I had the opportunity to meet an IFS officer Dr. Bala Bhaskar who was posted here at Indian Embassy in Washington DC. During the conversation he mentioned that during his stint as Regional Passport Officer, around 2008 he had organized Passport Meals across Andhra Pradesh. Basically instead of waiting for public come to Passport Office, he took the Passport Office to the public.
Passport Melas
So moral of the story, if you are willing you will find the ways to do it, like our BESCOM chief.
How will the PSK's will work for other small cities residents
As present system, one need to submit the documents at PSK's only which are four centers in Karnataka.
People are forced to travell by spending time & amount and greace the Touts & others in the chain to get the things done.
Earlier system was citizens residing in small towns / villagers need to visit their post office and submit the application, they generally get the passport in 40 - 60 days. Offcourse their were some issues like people were able to get the illegal passport in this process.
As technology is made available thru Telecom revolution, required data capturing for Passport should have been enabled at all Dist Hq of every state either at Head post office at each Dist Hq. Then after data capturing, applicant need to submit the passport application in same designated post office. As the demand for passport other then the Bangalore will be less, so the people could have easily applied for the passport.
New system is centralised one with online data base, it needs to mature and my feeling maturity is very slow in this case and with 10 years passport shelf life, I am affraid, demand for passports will increase with renewals.
So effect is IT enabled process passport is helping integration of higher activites in the chain , but making people at the lower end struggel who can't use technology.
Aadhar Confusion - Wish Ministers and others had read this?
Wish UPA ministers and others who are flaunting ignorance had read this on UIDAI website.
If Aadhaar is number, proof of ID Card as Aadhaar
See the Railway Cicular on Unique Idenification Card as Aadhaar
http://www.indianrailways.gov.in/railwayboard/uploads/directorate/traffic_comm/Comm-Cir2K12/ID_Proof_AC_Class_CC_4_2012.pdf
Look at the Confusion : Aadhaar is suppose to be number, but Railway calls in its 16th Jan'2013 public notice for proof of ID as Aadhaar Card for Train Journey.
Now how is that Aadhaar will be validated if its number to make / prooof identity, that means you need good broad band network to validate the number online every time.
So Aadhaar is going to be joke and its not mandatory for any of the things and worst logic is Aadhaar will store all info of other proof, but other proofs like Voters card, PAN Card, Passport, DL will not get linked on their own. So less we talk, its better on Aadhaar.
Misplaced concerns!
Aadhaar is suppose to be number, but Railway calls in its 16th Jan'2013 public notice for proof of ID as Aadhaar Card for Train Journey.
The reason could be as the UIDAI is not only providing the Unique number but it is also providing the individual ID like card with photo, name, date of birth.
If you ask me this should be more than enough for Railways/Bus Transports to verify the bonafides of the reserved individual. Dont't expect TTE to run an Aadhar authentication for every passenger. It's neither practical nor recommended.
Now how is that Aadhaar will be validated if its number to make / proof identity, that means you need good broad band network to validate the number online every time.
First of all service providers doesn't need to authenticate Aadhar number every time an individual seeks the service. If you are expecting the Fair Price Shop needs to authenticate Aadhar number of the consumer every time he shops, than that is a ridiculous design and model. The authentication should have been done at very beginning when the individual had applied for 'Ration Card'. Once it is issued after due authentication and verification there is no reason for authentication for every visit at point of service. It should work same as like Driving license, Bank Pass Book etc.
The answer to requirement of Broadband network for authentication is is given by UIDAI website ---> FAQs ----> Aadhar Authentication
"How can devices be connected to servers for authentication? Any leased line required?
Remote devices should be able to send authentication request to AUA servers over various types of networks – mobile network, PSTN, broadband. UIDAI mandates a leased line only between ASA and CIDR (Central Identity Data Repository)..."
So Aadhaar is going to be joke and its not mandatory for any of the things and worst logic is Aadhaar will store all info of other proof, but other proofs like Voters card, PAN Card, Passport, DL will not get linked on their own.
Well whether it is a joke or not only time will tell. PAN, Passports, DL's have been in existence before Aadhar made its entry, slowly I am sure they all will have Aadhar number as mandatory requirement. Aadhar is still making an beginning on national scene and as time passes, I am confident will become key identifier for issue of any Identification or services like Bank Accounts, PF accounts etc. Lets not confuse ourselves that Aadhar will phase out your PAN, EPIC, DLs etc. You will have all these but all these will be based on your assigned Unique ID.
So less we talk, its better on Aadhaar.
I disagree. We need to talk more. It is in our own interest to make it better, good and best. It is nobody's case that it is not laced with serious problems. It is. The solution doesn't lie in Junking this rather solution lies in plugging the loopholes, be its awareness, security, data integrity, vendor selections, its use etc.
In my brief interaction with UIDAI I have found them to be very prompt with answer to my queries. If we have any concerns, complaints, criticism and even sarcasm we should shoot a email to UIDAI. Their email address - help@uidai.gov.in and Complete UIDAI contact list is available @ http://uidai.gov.in/contact-us.html
Moreover it is your money and my money is in use.
Submission of Passport applications!
Per, Ministry of External Affairs Website, Passport application can be submitted at PSK (Passport Seva Kendra) or District Passport Cell in respective districts.
District Passport Cell Locator
Ex: For Chitrdurga
Disturbing News !
Source - Times of India
passport appointment thing - seems like a scam
Sanjeev mentioned this last month, and it seemed a bit much to be true. But now, that I am trying to get an appointment myself, I understand this better.
Three days in a row, tried to book appointments, online. 6:00pm slots available, 6:01pm - slots gone. But if you contact agents, they can help you with an an appointment.
The whole purpose of online/internet based system is to manage queues. What is the purpose of having a system that invites all applicants to log in at a fixed time - 6pm!? Why can't I log in, seek an appointment, and then be given an option to take the earliest available slot, or be asked to log in at 6pm in case I want a slot sooner.
The way it is right now, it certainly is inconvenient. Very likely that there is some "backdoor" for agents that makes them get appointments more easily than us.
Lodge an official complaint!
SB,
You must lodge an official complaint with the Regional PPO. Lets see what do they have to say if they reply at all. if not RTI, escalating with Ministry of External Affairs are open.
Every one who have faced this issue should lodge a complaint. It can not be left to work this way.
Koramangala, Bangalore,
Karnataka-560095
Fax: 080-25706124
E-mail: rpo.bangalore@mea.gov.in
Retaliatory Action - Compliant lodged with MEA!
A formal complaint in individual capacity has been lodged with MEA citing newspaper reports about retaliatory action by Bangalore Passport Officer.
Have lodged a complaint
Sent rpo.bangalore an email. Will see if anyone would respond.
------
Dear Passport Officer,
We have been trying to get an appointment through your online system for last four days at 6 pm. But all appointments get exhausted in less that a minute. This is happening every day, with precision. On checking around, we came to know that this is a problem faced by many people. However, some agents tell us that they can get us appointments. Would you please let us know if there is a problem at your end in the online system? Or do these agents have a separate window?
regards,
Pranav
------
Thanks Syed filing & Pranav for posting your 1st hand experience
@Syed,
Good that u have taken time to file Complaint with MEA.
Most of the Bangalore citizens are forced go thru' the Agents or use Tatkal scheme or stand in Que for submitting application as getting online that to at 6PM leaving all ur works or other things. Most of the people feel that pay some amount to agent and save this pain of online.
MEA officials should learn from IRCTC or Railways train ticket booking and Waitlisting concept. Even US Visa appointment taking online has improved so much over the years, its sorry state at MEA Passport Seva Kendra online mess.
@SB, did yoy managed to get an appointment?
SB,
Did you managed to get an appointment with Passport Service Kendra? Any response to your email complaint?
Yesterday I received a letter from Bangalore regional PO in response to my letter to MEA highlighting the issues. I am not sure how he got that letter and what prompted him to respond to me directly.
The content basically stated the same facts that he had given to the media. What was intriguing was his response to the complaints on online appointmnet system. Here is what he had say on online complaints:
"...with regard to online appointments, it is not known why officials of this office are being blamed for non-availability of online appointments and touts/agents being able to secure them. it seems to be deliberate misinformation by touts/agents who extort large amounts from applicants claiming that they are able to secure appointments with the help of the passport officials...."
It seems he is very annoyed with my letter to MEA. In the entire letter he could not offer any assurance or promise of any action against the malpractices. He basically washing his hands off saying, for online appointments don't blame me. If he is not to be blamed who else should be blamed? If he can not take step to correct the processes who else?
-Syed
TCS's reputation at stake
Incidentally, Vinnie herself managed to get an appointment to renew her son's passport last October, after a month of repeated attempts. She was offered an appointment by touts for a fee of Rs 1,000.
"Each appointment lasts about 15 minutes. The appointment timings are from 9am to 4pm. So, according to my calculation, a single officer must be interviewing about 30 people a day. This is a far cry from the passport office saying about 500-600 appointments are scheduled on a single day," says Vinnie Louis. "I'm also curious to know how touts are able to fix appointments so quickly and we can't, even after trying for months," she added.
Passport officials admitted to TOI that some people (touts) have created an artificial demand by booking appointments in advance, adversely affecting genuine passport seekers.
"The ministry is planning to implement the measure soon as it would help keep touts at bay," said acting regional passport officer L Madana Kumar. "Those who haven't been able to get appointments after repeated attempts also have the option to visit the Koramangala RPO and apply for a tatkal appointment."
For the full report in the ToI, click here.
I personally know of two recent cases where appointments got fixed through touts on payment of Rs 800/-, after repeat attempts on the net failed. So, things haven't changed any from Feb/ March when Syed and Pranav lodged formal complaints. Can't imagine how this is going on so openly.
Applying for a tatkal appointment at Koramangala RPO is worse than waiting in the queue for a ticket to an IPL match between Royal Challengers and Chennai Super Kings.
Incidentally, when I suggested, in another forum, that "compilation and maintenance of voters' lists" should also be outsourced to professional organisations like TCS, some pseudo-Socialists tried to palm off the blame for the 'appointments fixing issue' onto TCS. And, the problem is that there are enough people who will believe it. When checked with sources within TCS, it came to light that they can only do what is mandated by the Passport Department, and fixing it shouldn't be too difficult a job, if told to do so. The question that arises is "can TCS afford to remain silent, when their reputation is at stake?"
size of the cake
After reading all the posts and reports on the passport renewal experiences, I was looking forward to experiencing the process myself, with my passport validity coming to an end.
The e-form filing on the net, and getting the ARN was a breeze. And, with PSK (passport seve kendra - I chose the one located at Sai Arcade, Devarabisanahalli - next to Novotel, on the Outer Ring Road) process allowing for walk-ins for senior citizens between 9.30 AM and 10 AM on any working day, that too was absolutely smooth for me. The A section (handled totally by TCS) was most impressive. B & C sections handled by department staff were a bit slower - but, with a senior TCS officer walking around and guiding the applicants, nobody can have much to complain here, either. I expect I should be getting my renewed passport within two weeks max.
While in the queues, here and there (not too long), I got to talking to other applicants (non-senior citizens), and learnt that most had managed the appointments through agents.
Now, a PSK apparently handles 600 applications daily. Assuming that, of the 600, half (on a conservative note) are fixed through agents at Rs 800/- each, of which Rs 500/- reaches the fixer-in-charge (who has invariably to be a senior government official), it makes for a harvest of Rs 1.5 lakhs a day. In a 300 working-day year, that will then amount to Rs 4.5 cr. For 37 passport offices across the country, each with 3 PSK's, that would then amount to nearly Rs 500 cr a year - small compared to a railway contract, but certainly big enough for the counterpart of Pawan Bansal's nephew type working with External Affairs Ministry to appoint Passport Officers.
And, to think that it goes on so openly!!!
hot potato?
“Nearly 28,000 appointments will be generated at 6.30 pm on May 23. Also, the appointments will be released 21 days earlier (for 25 per cent of the appointments) in seven-day cycles instead of the present three-day and two-day cycles,” said Reddy. He said a total of 1,660 appointments are being released at present across all the PSKs.
Besides, tatkal applicants will now be allowed under walk-in category starting from May 23, he said. They do not have to visit the passport back office for an appointment and can directly walk in to the nearest PSK with Application Reference Numbers between 9.30 am and 11 am, he said.
For the full report in the New Indian Express, click here.
Sounds a bit complicated - this bit about 25% appointments, etc. Can't see why it can't be made straight and simple. The reason may be that if they do it that way overnight, it will become too obvious that the earlier arrangements were all fixed for making money on the sly. So, by dismantling it in steps, they are perhaps seeking to convey the impression that the process needed a lot of re-working.
I am assuming here that the johnnies involved have realised that the game has become a hot potato, with both the media and the social media latching on to the goings on. And, perhaps, TCS played a role too. Whatever, the civil society could do well to remain vigilant.
So, do we have a solution here?
"We have not received any evidence to prove that officials in RPO have colluded with touts to give appointments to ease passport verification. But I have written to CCB and CBI to find evidence. CCB had already arrested three touts before I took charge," said Madan Gopal Reddy, outgoing RPO.
For the full report in the ToI, click here.
My neighbour, and her college-going son, have been trying to get the appointment (in connection with the son's application) on the net from close to a year. But, invariably, within seconds of the allocated opening time (6 PM), the message would flash that the slots are all taken. In the process, she had to renew the application at least thrice. Last month, for almost 15 continuous days, she came home early from office, set herslf up before her comp at 5.50 PM, and with full concentration attempted to fix the slot; all in vain.
Meanwhile, she (as also I) had first hand info on many others having got the appointments through agents, and subsequently got their passports too. Though, there was no particular hurry, she was beginning to get frustrated and was about give up and opt for the agent route, when I told her about the process revisions, effective 23rd. On 23rd itself, she tried, again in vain, concluded that it was all yet another eye-wash, and forgot about it all. Last evening, though, having come early from office for some other reason, she gave it another shot, and this time it finally worked, with the appointment now fixed for June 19th.
The mother and son are extremely thrilled, of course. But, look at the irony of it all - how much time and effort they had to put in for something that should have been available to them in the normal course of life. Similar would be the case with the multitudes across the country. Isn't there a cost attached to it all? And, Mr Reddy wants us to believe that there is no evidence of involvement of his officials in the "agent operations." Who does he think he is fooling?
Now, I am inclined to believe here that the criticism of TCS, of abetting the cause, even if indirectly, led to their bringing on pressures to remedy the situation. Of course, there is more to be done, like I have pointed out in my earlier post, and I expect it will be done fairly soon too, now that the game is more or less over. The moral of the story may then very simply be to bring on the TCS's and Infosys's into the back-end operations pertaining to all government work, so that not only will the citizens get timely services, but it will also provides for a ready check on the deeds of the government johnnies. Hopefully, the Civil Society across the country will take up the cause.
Some numbers!
It's just not about TCS/Infosys could do it better than MEA themselves. It's also not about somebody like TCS designing the back end systems. Efficiency and perfection can only be achieved when you employ the technology from start to finish.
Certainly TCS/Infosys are better bet to accomplish such tasks given their exposure and long experience in delivering the complex solutions. Testimony is how Nandan Nelikini has rolled out the AADHAR compare to previous attempts by earlier govts and even the EPIC and the voting rolls nightmares.
The current appointment system adopted by External Affairs is very similar to what the US state department has for Visa appointments. Though the numbers are low compare to passport applicants, people do go through similar frustrations of not getting the appointments easily. I myself have gone through these pangs of online appointments. Also I have come across many cases wherein people having official contacts getting priority appointments at US embassies and consulates.
From the little information that I have gathered on this subject, it appears to me that there is need for re-hauling this entire appointment system and processing system. Certainly present system is appearing to be not scaling up to the requirements and therefore it needs to be ASAP fixed.
It will be interesting to know how the present system has been architect and what is the capacity that it can handle today?
Here is some math that I did while trying to analyze the capacity Vs Requirement. A recent news from Bangalore RPO suggests that every month they process 35 K applications resulting into 3 - 3.5 lakh applications per year.
Looking at the present existing processes, to scale upto that level of 12000 applications per day, every aspect of it should scale upto 10 times more, i.e.10 times more staff, More PSK centers and more online system handling capacity. Not a difficult or impossible requirement.
can't be that many
the total state population of 6 Crores (Per 2011 Census)
Aren't you assuming here that the entire population is interested in getting a passport? I wonder if it'll be more than 10% of the population.
The 'fixing' was being done by opening up the booking slot, obviously by an official who can be accessed through agents, some one hour before the appointed time. Well, apparently, while adopting the US visa procedures, our johnnies provided for the malpractices too. And, TCS looked the other way. The question is can TCS afford to?
now, 24 x 7 appointment slot booking, and more
Getting an online appointment for your passport may get easy now. The Regional Passport Office on Tuesday announced it will accept online applications round the clock. Until now, the online-appointment window opened at 6.30pm, and all slots were booked within minutes. And applicants had to wait for the next day to strike an appointment. The round-the-clock facility will ensure fewer complaints of access problems and prevent applicants from approaching touts, said state regional passport officer (RPO) P S Karthigeyan.
- - - - More e-features added:
* Pay online via credit or debit cards (Master and Visa), and internet banking via SBI facility. Applicants can use challan option on the website and deposit the amount in any SBI branch
* Android app mPassport Seva allows users to track passport status, locate PSKs and provides information
* To prevent smudging of photographs and data on passport booklets, the ministry has launched a tamper-proof letter-screen image or ghost-image security feature
For the full report in the ToI, click here
The question that arises is where was the problem in doing all of these right in the beginning itself. Obviously, the Pawan Bansal's nephew type was ruling the roost in the External Affairs Ministry (refer my post of 23rd May, above) until such times as the whole process began to get questioned by the people (including by Prajagalu), and TCS, worried about its reputation getting besmirched in the process, brought on pressures where it mattered.
Hopefully, everything will fall in place now, and the Pawan Bansal nephew types will be kept at bay, forever - you can never be too sure, though!
My Experiences..
I have sent the following several mails to helpdesk@passportindia.gov.in recently. Everytime I get a STANDARD response saying sorry for inconvenience and repeating the fact that the online appointment slots open at 6pm or I should go and approach Regional Passport Officer. And finally says "Hope we have been able to address your concern with satisfaction". Guess, the call center is trained to respond this way.
NOT SURE if some of my mails (along with several others like me who went through horrendous experience) have contributed to correction in their process to make it now 24/7. I am happy my mails (and several others as well) have been listened to.
==================================================
1. I have been trying to get an appointment slot at PSK, Bangalore for the past 4-5 days. Within 3 minutes slots are filled up from 6.00 pm. And the website slows down so much that it just times out very often. Is there a better mechanism for this?? Can you not open the whole calendar all the time?? Why from 6pm and why limited slots?? This experience is worst than Tatkal ticket booking on Railways. Please help me !!!
2. This is NOT a resolution. This is a costly (in terms of time, effort, wasted travel to RPO) work around.
Would have appreciated if the resolution is around improving the online process for taking appointments - making it 24/7, making the calendar for 1-2 months open rather than few slots being open and opening everyday for few minutes at 6pm.
3. Can the help desk book two appointments for me and my wife on our behalf for any day and any time? I can provide the application numbers. I give up trying to book online myself - today it got over in 3 min!!. Even though I logged in much ahead and was ready to press the button exactly at 6pm I failed to get the appointment as the website misbehaved few times as I am sure there was a huge congestion on the site - It is horrendous and nerve wracking experience !!! My BP shoots up.
4. I read through the 'Advisory for Applicants'. Giving offline appointments is at the discretion of RPO. RPO need not honor me.
Sad story anyways. This is how citizens are harassed. Technology should improve the situation and not create the same roadblocks which existed before. Other than filling up the form online I have not saved anything through the technology that you guys have implemented. In fact it is worse. I have to now visit two different offices to get my passport renewed - one for getting appointment and another to submit the documents. Hard luck !!!
Is anyone listening??
5. One more horrendous experience after having got my appointment online with great difficulty. I hope someone is hearing this and hopefully some action gets taken to improve the lives of citizens in future.
I check your website as to what documents are required for address proof carefully. I also noticed a ticker on your site that Aadhaar card is now being accepted. So I go to PSK with Aadhaar card and after a wait of 1 hour and half plus I had the rude shock of the executive telling me that Aadhaar card is not accepted as Address Proof.
a. If this is so why is it that your website mentioned it as one of the address proofs and the ticker too advertising so aggressively about that fact?
b. Who will take responsibility of such a blatant disconnect between what the website says and what the ground executive is saying??
c. How will you compensate a loss of a day for me to go through all this turmoil?
d. Is there a blog for Passport services so that I can post all my travails on it so that others also know about it.
Hopefully you will answer all my 4 questions above.