The Chennai Regional Passport Office (RPO) takes the least time to complete the police verification process, a survey of passport offices across the country has revealed.
The Union ministry of external affairs has sent a letter to the director generals of police of various States, which noted the average time taken by the RPO, Chennai, for completing the process was 19 days, soon after which the passport is issued to the applicant.
The letter further stated the Passport Seva Kendras functioning in Coimbatore, Madurai and Tiruchi took more time. For example, the time taken by the Kendra at Madurai city limits stood at 42 days, whereas for the rural areas, it was 47 days. Similarly, in Coimbatore urban areas the process took 60 days and in rural areas, it took 102 days. In the case of Tiruchi, it took 30 days in the urban areas and 44 days in the rural ones. Even in Chennai region, Kancheepuram, Vellore and Tiruvallur districts took more than 50 days to complete the process, the letter stated.
Passport office sources said systematic follow-up by RPO authorities in Chennai resulted in the faster completion of the verification process.
Dip in Tatkal applications
Meanwhile, there has been a dip in the number of passport applications under the tatkal category during the last calendar year. C. Senthil Pandian, RPO, Chennai, said, in 2012 they had received 64,062 applications and in 2013, only 33,063. The minimum time taken by the RPO to complete the police verification process and despatch the passports could be one of the reasons for applicants opting for the normal mode over the tatkal mode, he said.
