Fee for passport related services increased

The Central government has revised the passport and related services fee, effective October 1.

The fee for those applying under normal category, which is now Rs. 1,000, has been increased to Rs. 1,500. For those opting for Tatkal mode, the current charge is Rs. 2,500, which has been increased to Rs. 3,500.

The existing charge under Tatkal for citizens living abroad will be US $ 40, which has been increased to US $ 75 and for the normal applicants the existing fee is Euro 48, which has been increased to Euro 60, according to an official release.

The current fee structure came into force in July 1993, subsequent to the passing of Passport (Amendment) Act, 1992, which allowed the government to fix the fee on the basis of actual cost incurred on issuing a passport. In 1993, the passport fee was at Rs. 300 and it was revised in 2002 to Rs. 1,000.

Rising costs

Over the last 10 years, costs relating to establishment, capital expenditure, procurement of equipment, reimbursement to police authorities, payment to Postal department, printing of passport booklets, personalisation costs, IT expenses and contractual payment service to many service providers have gone up considerably, necessitating the increase in passport and related services charges.

During the last few years, the Ministry had been engaged in comprehensive reforms in delivery of passport services as envisioned under Passport Seva Project. Under the project, the Ministry had set up 77 Passport Seva Kendras, the release added.