No escape from touts for passport
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Sunil Kumar, an engineer from the city, found applying online for renewal of his passport so cumbersome that he decided to go to a Passport Seva Kendra (PSK) and apply in person. But here he found his way being made ‘easier’ only for a remuneration.
“I was approached by several agents and finally decided to accept the ‘services’ of one for Rs 500,” he recounts helplessly.
But Sunil was among the ‘lucky’ ones as the asking rate for providing such ‘services’ outside the PSKs goes upto Rs 5,000 at times.
There have also been instances of applicants paying touts outside the Karingachira PSK in Ernakulam, only to have them disappear with the money.
Even tech-savy applicants find online registration difficult and end up going to middlemen who run their units in petty shops, travel agencies and DTP centres to get their passports issued.
Passport officials admit that only a small percentage of people directly file their applications online.
And even when they do, they sometimes wait for hours in the long queues, just like Mr K Charly of Kochi who spent more than three hours waiting to have his children’s passports renewed.
When Ms Minsa M of Thalassery visited a PSK in early July for her passport, she was told to come two weeks later to apply for her daughter’s.
But on the day of the appointment, she was told to reapply for reasons unknown. And Mr Jobin K has had no success with his application despite visiting the Alappuzha PSK several times over the last three months.
Senior passport officials acknowledge there are complaints galore about the delays at the PSKs. “We have brought them to the notice of the authorities in Delhi and the public has been warned not to seek the help of touts,” they add.
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