The Kolkata passport office has opened a manual counter at the Regional Passport Office on Brabourne Road where applicants can walk in for general enquiry and emergencies, file closure, submit additional fees and seek redress for specific cases where a passport applicant has got an adverse police report and been showcaused.
Passport officials said the physical counter, operational between 10am and 1pm on weekdays except Wednesday, has been opened to help applicants who cannot get online slots at the Brabourne Road office.
Applicants who book online slots at the Passport Seva Kendra in Kasba or in the adjoining districts to get their applications processed sometimes receive a showcause letter from the RPO asking the applicants to visit the Calcutta RPO at Brabourne Road if something is found amiss in their applications.
"Only those applicants whose file number has been generated can apply for online booking of appointment at the Brabourne Road office. However, there are many applicants whose applications are stuck at the ARN (application reference number) stage. They cannot make online bookings and hence can now walk in at the manual counter," said regional passport officer, Calcutta, Ashish Middha.
At present, 100 online appointment slots are available for the Brabourne Road office on weekdays.
Who can walk in at the manual counter?
A passport official said people will be allowed inside the Brabourne Road office on a first-come-first-served basis.
· Emergency: Applicants will be able to approach the RPO for any kind of emergency related to the issue/ re-issue of passports. “Sometimes students and professionals need passports urgently or there is a medical emergency at home. Such cases can be addressed at the manual counter if the applicants are carrying their original documents citing the emergency,” said an official.
· General enquiry: Sometimes applicants come only for general enquiry related to rules and regulations or the status of their passport, the official said.
· File closure: Many applicants visit the office to close their application files if there is a fault in their applications. Such file closure applications can be processed at the manual counter, a passport officer said.
· Additional fee submission: A senior official said sometimes if an applicant has to make any transaction for applications that are processed at the post-office passport seva kendra (where transactions are not allowed), such payments have to be made through the Brabourne Road office only. “Also, sometimes people who are repatriated or deported also have to submit a fee as per official protocol. Such cases can be addressed at the manual counter,” said the official.
Targeted walk-in
RPO Middha said only applicants under the “targeted walk-in” category can avail themselves of this facility on all weekdays (including Wednesdays).
Applicants who have received their passports under the fresh Tatkaal category but have got an adverse report from the police, as well as applicants whose applications are yet to be processed due to an adverse police report can approach the RPO with their original documents through this manual counter.
“In both cases, once an adverse police verification report is generated, a showcause notice is sent to the applicant citing the reason behind the adverse report. Such showcause notices will bear a stamp of ‘Police Report Review Walk-in Entry’. Applicants under this category who receive such a stamped showcause letter will be eligible to walk in with the original copy of the letter and the other original documents,” said a senior passport officer in Kolkata.