Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, June 12: Now Passport aspirants can book appointments in Passport Sewa Kendras (PSKs) online, as Ministry of External Affairs has launched online payment system for the same to resolve the issue of non-availability of appointments and to reduce no-shows of applicants.
With launch of online payment based appointments, applicants will be required to make payment at the time of booking appointment on the MEA website. With this, only genuine applicants will book the appointment and number of no-shows will reduce. Under the new process, payments can be made while booking an appointment on the website – www.passportindia.gov.in either by Credit /Debit card (both Master and Visa) or internet Banking of State Bank of India.
Applicants can also use the Challan option provided on the website and deposit the money in State Bank of India (SBI) branch after generating Challan online. In such cases, upon the confirmation of payment receipt by SBI in online system, applicants can take appointment. Further, instead of applicant choosing the date and time slot of appointment, system will automatically give earliest available appointment.
Online payment system will be applicable for taking appointments for Jammu PSK with effect from June 14, 2013 onwards.
The new system will be gradually rolled out to all PSKs across the country in coming weeks.
As part of MEA’s e-Governance initiatives, the Jammu Passport Officer, Rajinder Gupta stated that they have transformed the passport issuance system by improving governance in Passport Office by focusing on citizen-centricity, service orientation and transparency.
Follow our WhatsApp channel