Passport verification in Coimbatore to go digital way soon

Speaking to media, G Sivakumar, Regional Passport officer, who assumed charge newly, said on Tuesday that digitisation of passport verification, will eliminate use of papers by police. 

“Tablets will be given to all police stations. Verification details including registering digital signature and taking photo of the applicant can be done using specially developed software. The new system will be introduced in another two months,” he said. Normally passports are issued in 25 days, of which, most number of days is consumed by police for verification alone. Police take about 15 days to verify address and criminal background of an applicant. 

“Once digitised, the verification period will be cut short to just three to four days. Further, we are planning to hold discussions with police to speed up the verification process and avoid unnecessary delays. Plans are also afoot to hold passport mela’s in police stations,” said the officer.

Six districts including Coimbatore, Tirupur, Nilgiris, Erode, Salem and Namakkal fall under the Coimbatore RPO. Sivakumar said that Coimbatore Regional Passport office, despite an acute staff crunch, is issuing 950 passports on an average daily. 

Dismissing reports that the passport office in Coimbatore is to be closed as baseless rumours, the officer said only the office, which functions in a Corporation owned building will be moved to a new building. Sivakumar also said passports services will be introduced soon in head post offices in Tirupur and Namakkal districts. 

A scheme, under which passports can be obtained within four days by submitting voter id, Aadhaar, pan card or ration card remains underutilised due to lack of awareness among public. The scheme was launched in January 26 last year. 

A new WhatsApp helpline (94879-92991) has been introduced to public to raise their grievances for redressal.