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LOK SABHA
UNSTARRED QUESTION NO- 2124
ANSWERED ON- 12/12/2025

ISSUANCE OF PASSPORTS

2124. SHRI RAVINDRA DATTARAM WAIKAR
SHRI NARESH GANPAT MHASKE
SMT. SHAMBHAVI
SMT. BHARTI PARDHI
SHRI VISHALDADA PRAKASHBAPU PATIL
SHRI SHRIRANG APPA CHANDU BARNE
DR. SHRIKANT EKNATH SHINDE
SHRI RAJESH VERMA
SHRI ATUL GARG
DR. LATA WANKHEDE
SHRI M K RAGHAVAN

Will the Minister of EXTERNAL AFFAIRS be pleased to state :-

(a) the average waiting time for appointments and issuance of passports across various Passport Seva Kendras (PSKs), Post Office Passport Seva Kendras (POPSKs) under Normal and Tatkaal categories during the last three years, State/ UT-wise;

(b) the number and nature of complaints received regarding passport delays, procedural hurdles and difficulties in obtaining police verification for passports, along with the corrective steps taken thereon;

(c) the number of passport applications pending for police verification for more than 30 days, State-wise;

(d) the measures taken to simplify the passport issuance process, strengthen grievance redressal mechanisms indicating the status of the e-passport rollout;

(e) whether the Government proposes to expand the network of PSKs/ POPSKs in underserved districts and improve digital/online facilities for faster processing, if so, the details thereof; and

(f) the details of the grievances faced by Indians abroad related to loss/damage/renewal of passports at Indian Missions along with the steps taken to address such issues?

ANSWER
THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF EXTERNAL AFFAIRS
(SHRI KIRTI VARDHAN SINGH)

(a) The details of the average waiting time for appointments and issuance of passports across various Passport Seva Kendras (PSKs), Post Office Passport Seva Kendras (POPSKs) under Normal and Tatkaal categories during the last three years, RPO-wise/State/UT-wise is given in Annexure-I and Annexure-II respectively.

(b) The number and nature of complaints/grievances received regarding passport delays, procedural hurdles and difficulties in obtaining police verification for passports during last three years are given in Annexure-III.

In order to address complaints and grievances, the Ministry of External Affairs is continuously taking steps to redress the complaints and grievances on a timely manner. The public complaints/grievances are redressed through different modes like Public Grievances Cell, CPGRAMS, Emails and X-handle. Also, Regional Passport Offices (RPOs) have been sensitised to promptly attend to all passport related grievances on a timely manner. Whenever necessary, passport adalats are conducted on weekends and holidays to clear pending passport applications. A compliance report on the action taken on various grievances is also sent to the Ministry by the respective RPOs.

The Ministry launched mPassport Police App in 2016 for Android/iOS mobile phones for use by State/UT police personnel tasked with conducting police verification, enabling them for an expeditious submission of Police Verification Report (PVR) digitally directly from the Police Station itself. Currently, 25 States/UTs covering more than 9322 Police Stations across the country have already launched mPassport Police App.

(c) The number of passport applications pending for police verification for more than 30 days as on 1st December, 2025, State-wise, is given at Annexure-IV.

(d) To simplify passport processing process, quality services are being provided to the applicants at PSKs/POPSKs established with good amenities across the country in Public Private Partnership (PPP) mode. The applicants are required to apply for their passports online, make the payment online through debit/credit/Rupay cards, net banking/ SBI Challan & UPI etc, schedule an appointment and then visit the designated PSK/POPSK. A user friendly portal has been made available. When an applicant visits a PSK/POPSK, an Electronic Queue Management System (EQMS) working on the principle of First-in First-out is available at all PSKs/POPSKs to monitor the flow of applicants. The applicants can track the status of their applications themselves through portal and also through SMS services. Provisions are also made for additional counters at the PSKs/POPSKs to meet the increase in demand. The public grievances are redressed through different modes like Public Grievances Cell, CPGRAMS, Emails and X-handle.

Ministry of External Affairs has completed the roll out of e-Passport in all 37 Passport Offices in India and their respective Passport Seva Kendras (PSKs) and Post Office Passport Seva Kendras (POPSKs) across the country and in all Missions/Posts abroad.

(e) The Government of India has taken several steps to expand the network of PSKs and POPSKs in underserved districts and improve digital/online facilities for faster processing. MEA in association with Department of Posts (DoP) had decided in January 2017 to open Seva Kendras at the Head Post Offices (HPO)/Post Offices (PO) in the country called Post Office Passport Seva Kendras (POPSK) in each Lok Sabha Constituency (LSC) where there is no PSK or POPSK.

Moreover, in June 2018, Ministry launched the ‘Apply anywhere in India’’ scheme under which a passport can be applied at any PSK/POPSK in India. Also MEA has been regularly deploying Passport Mobile Vans under respective RPOs for on-site passport processing in remote areas and hilly areas.

Further, the payment of application fees through digital mode has been expanded to include Internet banking, debit/credit card (Visa, Master Card and Rupay) and Unified Payments Interface (UPI) mode through Virtual Payment address/UPI id or QR code. Online appointment facilities and feedback kiosks/screens to capture real-time citizen responses for quicker service improvements have been provided.

(f) The details of the grievances filed by Indian citizens abroad at Indian Missions/Posts are given below:

The Ministry of External Affairs accords high priority to the timely resolution of the grievances including passport-related issues, faced by Indian nationals travelling and working in foreign countries, through Indian Missions/Posts abroad. The MADAD portal has been significantly strengthened to enable instant registration, real-time tracking, and monitoring of complaints, with an in-built auto-escalation mechanism in case of delays. All communications received through e-mails, letters, social media, in-person visits, helplines and MADAD portal are actively followed up. Expedited emergency/tatkal passport re-issue services (often without insisting on police reports in genuine cases of loss or damage), regular Open Houses and Consular camps have collectively ensured that most grievances are addressed promptly by the Indian Missions/Posts abroad. These measures have considerably improved the speed, effectiveness and responsiveness of passport-related grievance redressal mechanism for Indian citizens abroad.

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