KOCHI: The Regional Passport Office (RPO), Cochin, has been adjudged as the Best Passport Office in India for the year 2025–26 under the Passport Seva Puraskar instituted by the Ministry of External Affairs.
The prestigious award was presented by External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar to Dipin P R, Regional Passport Officer, Kochi, during the Passport Seva Divas celebrations and the Regional Passport Officers’ Conference held in New Delhi on June 19.
RPO, Cochin, excelled across almost all key performance parameters used to assess the efficiency of Passport Offices. These include appointment availability, time taken for processing passport applications, grievance redressal, speed of passport issuance, employee productivity, pendency management, and minimisation of file escalations from Passport Seva Kendras.
This marks the ninth occasion on which RPO, Cochin, has been recognised as the Best Passport Office in India since the institution of the Passport Seva Puraskar by the Ministry of External Affairs in 2013-14. RPO, Cochin, also secured accolades in the individual performance categories.