Friday, September 3, 2010

MY PASSPORT EXPERIENCE (TATKAAL) @ PSK Bangalore

I have been reading many blogs on how to get the passport with the new Passport Seva Kendra started by the MEA. Decided to pen down my experience.If I have to give a rating I would give them 10/10. Courteous, Efficient all adjectives can be put here.

Mine was a reissue with an address change. My earlier passport was issued from the Indian consulate in San Francisco USA for 10 years. I travel very frequently so the passport pages got exhausted. I had relocated to India about an year back so I had all the address proof for residency at the same place. I had a valid visa for travel but no pages so I had to apply under tatkaal so that i could travel the coming week. I did research on various forums and blogs on how to do it.

Please note you don't need any Affidavits, Form I , Form F etc its a direct straight forward way present your case of urgency and the passport officer decides if it can be made Tatkaal.

Step 1: Register online at http://passportindia.gov.in and fill in the necessary application forms. From Aug 16, 2010 they have done away with walk in appointments so the only option is to take an online appointment. They have taken the didactic criticism and changed the way the appointment is made it now shows the earliest available date ( the older system had its issue but i wont go into that). I took a date for 31 Aug 2010 for the 09:45am slot.

Step 2: Gathering all the papers required before the appointment date

1)Address Proof: These are the ones I carried for address proof if you have more take it ( more the merrier)
a) Electricity Bill ( Jul 2009 & Jul 2010 Original + 1 Copy self attested)
b) Gas Bill ( Jul 2009 & Jul 2010 Original + 1 Copy self attested)
c) Landline phone number ( Airtel Jul 2009 & Jul 2010 Original + 1 Copy self attested)
2)Marriage Certificate ( Original + 1 Copy self attested)
3)Old Passport (Original + 1 Copy first and last two pages only self attested)


Arrival at PSK:
I took the appointment at PSK-Sai Arcade. I reached there by 09:30am and they have a big parking area behind the PSK, the charges are INR20/- for 2 hours.Ask the security outside for directions if you cant find the board.

There was a short line at the entrance TCS folks were checking against a list to make sure we did have an appointment that day. The next was a table where they made sure we had the documents ( address proof only) , it just took 5 minutes for this. Then the frisking by security guard and voila you enter a air conditioned room. For those folks who have had experience with the Passport Office on MG Road this one would be an absolute shocker!!

Entrance to PSK:

Counter for Token & Counter A (Customer Service Executive):
At the next counter they gave me a Token number. I was then let inside into another waiting room with TV screens which showed which token was being serviced at which counter ( Q6 30 @ Counter A5 etc). Here I had to wait for 5 minutes before I was ushered into a cubicle with a Customer Service Executive (CSE). The online form you had filled is pulled out , there are two computer screens so you can see what the CSE is typing. Once I confirmed everything is fine, he took my snap and also finger prints. Post that CSE scanned all my documents ( took only 2 of the 3 proofs I had brought along) and uploaded them online with my application. It was printed and made into a hard file with my file number on the top.

I asked them to make it Tatkaal he said it can only be done by the Granting Officer , he put a POSTIT with the request on the top of my file. I paid INR1500/- the normal fee for Jumbo Passport Booklet. All this took just 20 minutes

Counter B ( Verification Officer):

From here on the government machinery takes over. I had read at many places that there are 30 Counter for CSE but only 6 counters Verification Officers(VO). That is due to the fact that the work is just verifying the address proof you had provided and was scanned at the earlier counter A. For me the verification was just a 2 minute job, but for the folks ahead of me who did not have all the papers the VO rejected/asked for clarifications that took time, then the usual debate between the applicant and Vo on what is valid etc takes more time. If the papers are in order they would look at the original and type verified and OK. That's all there is to it.

The wait here was longer as few folks ahead of me had some issue with their papers ( all related to address proof). Here also I told them about Tatakal and I was told it would be done by the grating officer

Counter C ( Granting Officer):

This is the last step if its a normal passport. The Granting Officer (GO) approves the passport application as Granted and cancels the older passport and returns the same to you. Then you walk out of the PSK. But since mine had to made tatkaal it was a little different. I made my case for Tatkaal saying my work was travel and I cannot wait for 3-4 weeks. My passport had lot of visa stampings and they also saw that in less than 5 years I had exhausted all the pages, she gave me a sympathetic hearing and approved the same after ensuring I had 3 address proofs, no Affidavits, Forms I/F etc are required. Just present your case if valid Tatkaal is approved.

The wait time here is minimal.

Repeat of the circle: A --> B --> C

Once it was approved I had to go back to the same CSE at Counter A make the new payment for Tatkaal ( INR 1500) and they issued me a new receipt for INR 3000/-. With this my file again moved to the Counter B VO and then again to Counter C GO. This one doesn't consume much time you can go back to the same folks who did it earlier they recognize you and know it has been changed from normal to tatkaal and approve it immediately. In my case the Police Verification is post passport issuance .


Exit:

At the exit there is a touch screen to give feedback 5 questions all straightforward, I gave them an excellent for all with the experience I had at the PSK. Here you get a print out of the passport application saying granted , police verification required/ not required etc.

I was out of the PSK office by 1130am.


The Online Status for the next few days:

Go to http://passportindia.gov.in/wps/portal/statustracker
Enter you file number and date of birth

File Number BN000000000000000
Date of Birth 00/00/0000
Given Name xxxx
Surname xxxxx
Type of Application Tatkaal
Application Received on Date 31/08/2010
Status:

My status were as follows:
31Aug :You would receive an sms/email once the passport is dispatched.
1 Sep :You would receive an sms/email once the passport is dispatched.
2 Sep :You would receive an sms/email once the passport is dispatched.
3 Sep :Status Applicant passport with Passport Number Z000000 has been dispatched on 03/09/2010 via speed post. The speed post tracking number is EK00000000IN

Service Level Agreement on the website:

Type of Application: Tatkaal
Type of Police Verification: Police Verification is required on a Post-Passport Issuance basis
Expected Time of Passport Dispatch: On third working day excluding the date of submission of application - without waiting for the Police Verification Report.

I received my passport on 4th Sep 2010 by speed post ( 5 days in total including the day of the submission). Most efficient service by Govt. of India. Hats off to the MEA in streamlining the entire process!!!

19 comments:

khushi said...

I thought I should share my experience too with others …..if they can get some help from it….so I have shared my experience in my blog :
http://yummyfood-khusi.blogspot.com/2010/10/my-passport-experience.html

Anand said...

HI,

Your experience was very useful to me. I also had nice exp. This Process by MEA made my life easy to renew my passport. but i p aid only 2500 rs. how come you paid 3000 ?

Thanks
Anand

Jharnalist said...

Hi, you mentioned in your post that you needed to travel in a week. Did you manage to get an appointment so quickly or had you booked an appointment at the PSK much in advance.

Anonymous said...

Hi,

Its really wonderful to know you recieved it so soon. Did you do anything/talk to anyone to get it so soon.. Its been 15 days since i applied it and it still shows "You would receive an sms/email once the passport is dispatched". My passport was a bit damaged. I wanted to apply through tatkal, but they applicee through Normal telling damaged passport cant be applied through tatkal mode. Please let me know If i can do anything.

Anonymous said...

Hey there,

Thanks for detailing out your experience. I have my tatkaal/re-issue appointment scheduled for tomorrow, and your post has given me some comfort :)

Wish my experience turns out to be similar :)

Thx again

Anonymous said...

Hi All,

I have been trying to get an appointment since 30/6/2011 today is 02/08/2011 yet unable to do so.
any advice anyone???

Thanks

prashant said...

DO WE NEED TOGET AN APPOINTMENT IF WE ARE APPLYING FOR TATKAL PASSPORT.

prashant said...

PLZZZ HELP!!!

DO WE NEED TO GET AN APPOINTMENT FOR PSK IF WE ARE APPLYING FOR TATKAL PASSPORT......

Anonymous said...

Present process of appointment is far worst from what it is was an year ago. I hope, everyone who are trying for an appointment now would go thru the worst experience. I, myself, struggling for the last 15 days to get an appointment online. Nowadays, the appointment schedule opens sharp at 6 pm and the slots will be filled within 2-3 min. No one is sure about how many slots are available and how long the schedule is kept open. Very pathetic exp.

Anonymous said...

I had a bad experience with my daughters passport.my name as the Fathers name in my daughters birth certificate, had a small spelling mistake in my Middle Name(i.e my Fathers name).

for that they rejected the application.

I must say, that whatever we privatise, At times, government processes, just cant make out the difference between Real & Fake..
i have taken the new birth certificate and plan to re go day after..

Am Really Nervous :(

Neela said...

I was @ PSK,Sai Arcade, Outer ring road to apply for TATKAL RENEWAL.
It took 2 days to get an Online appointment. Logged in at exactly 8.00 and got an appointment. Probably you need some best internet connection to get this appointment.

I am from tamilnadu and my previous passport was issued in tamilnadu. Whilst renewing , I've to do address change and have to include my wife's name too.
To do these, I carried these documents.

Address proof Documents
=======================

1. Address in companies letter head with seal and sign on it. My company is a pvt ltd company.(ORIGINAL)

2. To support 1, you've to carry your companies ID card.( XEROX)

3. Airtel Land line/Broadband telephone bill (1 for the previous year and 1 or the current year)(XEROX + ORIGINAL )

Apart from these I carried HP gas connection voucher .I did not use it anyway.

To Include Spouse Name
======================
1. Marriage certificate.(ORIGINAL + XEROX)


The interview was done at three levels as said earlier.
1.Counter for Token & Counter A (Customer Service Executive):
2.Counter B ( Verification Officer)
3.Counter C ( Granting Officer)

It took 40 minutes in total.

In 3 working days including the interview date, I received my tatkal passport.

Anonymous said...

I want to share my posistive experience with PSK Marathahalli, Bangalore. I got my appointment fixed on 9th Feb 2012 for my tatkaal renewal of passport.Very professional staff.The initial step was to verify the required documents and issual of the token. Step 2 was to pay the fees and file your fingerprint and they themselves take a photo of yours which would be uploaded online to your application.next step to counter b where an officer reverify all your originals and send you to last counter C where a senior officer grants you the permission.At the end collect your acknowledgement receipt from the security counter.I received my passport on the third working day as promised and I am very happy about the service.

Anonymous said...

12.2.2012
I went to Sahibabad PSK (Delhi - 1)
I must say TCS has done a good job.
Staff is polite 7 helpful . Highly professional.
Re- issue took less than 30 minutes for whole process & got an acknowledgement slip with post verification. Got passport in 10 days
I must congratulate SM Krishnaji & TCS for this great initiative.

pink said...

Hi, Thank you for a very informative description of the process. I am quite nervous at the thought. I only ave one address proof. I hope it works out great.

Can you tell me what the procedure for the police clearance is?

Thank you.

Anonymous said...

The information you supplied in this blog was of immense use to me during my research. I have written notes on what happened with my own application here - http://psksaga.blogspot.com.

Special mention:

* I had gone for a Tatkaal Re-Issue of passport to the existing address (Aluva PSK, Kerala). I did not need a Verification Certificate or the Annexure I. All that was needed was: the old passport, degree certificate (for ECNR stamp) and the marriage certificate.

* I was specifically asked the SSLC certificate (10th standard) though this is not given in the website. I had to present my case to the ARO who finally approved my request. So, different RPO have their own interpretations.

* No police verifications might be needed for me (Re-Issue, same address) - this is being shown in my receipt. Finger crossed.

Thanks, once again.

Anonymous said...

ManuJoshi
Here are the Passport Application processing steps for reference. It is based on my recent (Feb 2013) passport renewal experience. I hope people will find it useful for tracking progress of their passport application.

Day 1: Application submitted at Passport Seva Kendra
Day 5 status: Pending for physical police verification at HAL Police Station, Bangalore.
Day 7: Received a phone call from Police Station requesting to visit Police station for address verification.
Day 8: Visited HAL police station. Signed one form and submitted 2 photos, address proof and a passport copy.
Day 21 status: Police report has been submitted by HAL Police Station, Bangalore and sent to commissioner office, District Bangalore for review.
Day 22 status: Police report has been submitted by Commissioner Office Bangalore and passport printing is in progress.
Day 26 status: Your passport has been printed and you would receive an sms/email once the passport is dispatched.
Day 28 received SMS: PCW: Your GSC No. for Passport Verification is POxxxxxxxx.Contact H.A.L. PS for verification Courtesy:Police Computer Wing.
Day 28 status: Passport xxxxxxx has been dispatched via speed post tracking number xxxxx

Tatkal Passport Hyderabad said...


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Passport Appointment Booking said...

Friends we are offering the best service in booking passport appointment
. booking passport appointment
is very tough job and it is not possible for everyone to book it yourself, so we are here just for this make us a call and we will provide you hassle free slot with a nominal fee. The actual problem behind this is that lakhs of persons are trying to get only some hundreds of slots. Like at surat 400 slots get booked, in Visakhapatnam 350 slots get booked everyday, but to getting this 350 or 400 slots at-least 10 lakhs persons try everyday. So the normal problem faced by persons are this that all slots get booked within 8-10 sec or server respond too slow so no one can see the next screen. So how can a normal people will book the slot within 10 sec. It can only be done by expertise person. We having a team of experts just make us a call to get immediate passport appointment booking




Every PSK there will be some schedule at what time the database will be open for passport appointment booking. E.g. for PSK Kolkata it is 3 PM every day. You cannot try before that. Otherwise you will get a message same in the screen. Now if try from 3 PM time and able to view the next screen, then you can see the available slots. Simply you can click on a slot and further proceed for booking.
But the thing is not so easy. As many people try at the same time, so the database responds to them only who has a high speed or 3G internet. For a general internet speed you might reach to that screen, but by the time you click and book a slot, some will finish the booking itself. So practically there is no such tricks to book online passport appointment. But we have couple of choices or alternatives to get an appointment. Let's check them and try to find out whether they are useful or not.
First thing you can do is to take high speed internet connection. If you don't have that or you cannot replace your existing one then find out among your friends. It will be a just 5 min task.
Always keep trying to log in before 5 min of actual time. Keep trying, although you will get the massage. Because everyone will do the same. If you are able to manage a slot, then in the next screen you have to fill up the captcha or verification letters. Don't be in hurry, fill it up very carefully. Remember if you miss a single word, then you will not get a chance to come back again. You have to try next day.
WE PROVIDE SERVICES FOR passport appointment booking

Mohan said...

Thought to share too my experience at Sai Arcade , passport office Bangalore. I applied for reissue as my passport expired. I entered at 9:30 am and completed all rounds of A/B/C counter's with in 1 hr , did not face any hassle, whole process was smooth. Government has bring lots of improvement of in whole process and lots of transparency. Big thanks to TCS employee / government officials.

Only thing I saw or noticed in people's face of applicants or officer no SMILE or Zest . I want to see that happiness in people's eye when I visit next time.

All I m doing there is Applying for one kind of identity.so It has to be more joyful less procedure oriented.

Also I want to see Indian flags in passport office to feel proud that in government office :)

More welcoming or friendly environment.

One again big thanks to keep improving on passport service. All the best.

Thanks
Mohan
+9663517592