Passport applicants will have to pay the passport fee to get appointments at Passport Seva Kendras (PSKs) in the state.
The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) is implementing the measure to reduce the number of ‘no shows’ by applicants after taking appointments.
This will be implemented from Friday at the PSKs on Lalbagh Road, Marathahalli Outer Ring Road in Bangalore and in Mangalore and Hubli, said a release from P S Karthigeyan, Regional Passport Officer, Bangalore. With the launch of the online payment based-appointments, applicants will have to pay the full fee of Rs 1,000 for a 36-page passport and Rs 1,500 for a 60-page passport, to obtain appointments.
Payments can also be made using credit or debit cards or internet banking of State Bank of India while booking on www.passportindia.gov.in. Applicants can also use the challan option to deposit money at SBI branches and after the online confirmation of payment, the appointments can be fixed. The appointment slot will only be system generated.
Karthigeyan said many applicants were not turning up at PSKs despite seeking appointments, resulting in lesser utilisation of the processing capacity of the PSKs. “This caused denial of appointments to genuine applicants,” the statement said.