The time taken for obtaining passports through the Passport Seva Kendras (PSKs) within Chennai Regional Passport Office (RPO) limits has come down substantially over the past few years. Data shows the number of passports granted in a year has crossed the 5-lakh mark.
The total number of passports granted by Chennai RPO during 2023 was 5,19,682. This was 4,74,472 for 2022 and 4,72,274 for 2019. The data for 2020 and 2021 could not be obtained since COVID-19-related lockdown was in effect for the better part of those years.
The time taken to obtain an appointment in the PSKs for various services, including issuance of a fresh passport and reissuing (both normal and tatkal), within the jurisdiction of the Chennai RPO has come down to three to five days, said S. Koventhan, Regional Passport Officer for Chennai. A couple of years ago, it took about 14 days to get police verification done within the Chennai RPO limits, but it was later reduced to about a week. Eventually, this period had been reduced further and is about three to four days currently, he said.
The Chennai Regional Passport Office has four PSKs — one each in Aminjikarai, Saligramam, and Tambaram and another in Puducherry. It also has within its limits 13 Post Office Passport Seva Kendras (POPSKs) to cover as many northern districts of Tamil Nadu.
On an average, the RPO Chennai handles between 2,500 to 2,700 appointments in all PSKs and POPSKs. Usually, the appointments for various passport services are more on Mondays and Fridays and are generally less on Tuesdays.
Applications are generally high during the summer vacation between April end and June.
Published - July 07, 2024 06:12 pm IST
