The government has announced that the online portal for passport applications will be shut for maintenance for the next five days. No new appointments can be made during this time, and appointments booked earlier will be rescheduled.
A notice on the Passport Seva portal announced that the system will be down for technical maintenance from 29th August 2024, Thursday 20:00 hrs IST to 2nd September, Monday 06:00 hrs IST. System will not be available during this period for citizens and for all MEA/RPO/BOI/ISP/DoP/Police Authorities. Appointments already booked for August 30, 2024, will be rescheduled, with applicants being notified of the changes.
The Ministry of External Affairs clarified that this is a routine procedure, “For rescheduling of appointments, we always have contingency plans. The maintenance activity for a public centric service (like Passport Seva Kendras) is always planned in advance so that no inconvenience is meted out to public. So rescheduling an appointment will not be a challenge,” a source from the ministry has said.
The Passport Seva portal is the platform where applicants book appointments at centers nationwide to apply for or renew a passport. On the appointment day, applicants visit the passport centers to submit their documents for verification. After this, a police verification process takes place, and the passport is then delivered to the applicant’s address. Applicants can choose the regular mode, where the passport arrives within 30-45 working days, or the Tatkaal mode, which ensures delivery within a few days.