By IANS,
Bangalore: Appointments for availing passport services in Karnataka will be given within 30 hours from next week with a view to reducing delays and clearing the mounting backlog, a senior official said Wednesday.
“Appointments will be given online one-and-half day (30 hours) ahead for all services related to issue of passports from Sep 19 at our seva kendras in Bangalore, Hubli and Mangalore,” Karnataka regional passport officer K.J. Srinivasa told reporters here.
For availing services Sep 19, appointments will be released from Sep 17 6 p.m. onwards and the online facility will be available till midnight (23:59 hours) Sep 18 or till appointments are exhausted, whichever is earlier.
The fully computerised four passport seva kendras (service centres) are operated by the staff of the Indian IT bellwether Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) with the passport officials providing the back-up support.
Appointments can be taken from Saturday to Thursday for Monday to Friday as the kendras will be on holiday during the weekend (Saturday and Sunday).
“Applicants with genuine urgency, including medical, educational, employment, visa issue, etc., can approach the regional passport office in the city centre for prior appointments after registering online for getting the application registration number (ARN),” Srinvasa added.