Indian Citizens to Soon Receive Safer, More Convenient E-passports

Indian citizens will no longer be required to carry a physical passport because the government will soon launch an e-passport service in the country. Sanjay Bhattacharya, the Secretary of the Ministry of External Affairs, recently tweeted that Indian citizens are likely to receive e-passports soon.

With this, the trouble of losing your passport will be a thing of the past as the introduction of e-passport will be safer and more convenient than traditional passports.

India’s passport is currently issued in the form of a booklet. According to the Secretary of the Ministry of External Affairs, e-passports will be secured with biometric data and will meet global immigration requirements.

The government claims that the e-passport will reduce counterfeiting and augment passenger immigration. The e-passport will comply with the International Civil Aviation Organisation’s standards, according to the Ministry of External Affairs (ICAO).

The Ministry of External Affairs has issued e-passports to approximately 20,000 officers and diplomats on a trial basis. The e-passport contains an electronic microprocessor chip. There will also be an internationally recognised logo on the chip embedded passport.

For e-passports, the Ministry of External Affairs has reached an agreement with Tata Consultancy Services (TCS). This agreement for e-passports with microchips was signed as part of the Passport Seva Program’s second phase.

In most cases, only three documents are required to obtain a passport. However, you will be required to provide numerous additional documents in addition to these three for an e-passport. These include existing proof of residency, proof of date of birth, and non-ECR category documents.

You can use a water bill, a phone or mobile phone bill, an electricity bill, an ID card, a gas connection, an Aadhar card, a rent agreement, or a bank passbook as proof of address. India currently has 555 Passport Kendras, including 36 Passport Offices, 93 Passport Seva Kendras (PSKs), and 426 Passport Seva Kendras at Post Offices (POPSK).

Read all the Latest Business News here