The passport application online portal will remain shut for five days starting on Friday for a maintenance exercise, the government said on Thursday. No new appointments will be given during this period. Appointments booked earlier will be rescheduled. Those who have scheduled appointments for August 30, 2024, Friday-the appointments will be rescheduled. They shall be informed of the new dates and times as soon as possible, an official statement said.
"Passport Seva portal will remain down for technical maintenance from August 29, 2024, Thursday 20:00 hours IST to September 2, Monday 06:00 hours IST. The already booked appointments for August 30, 2024 will be suitably rescheduled and informed to applicants," reads a note on the Passport Seva portal.
During this period, the online application services will be unavailable, along with all related services regarding appointment bookings, etc. No citizen or any authorities, like MEA, Regional Passport Office, BOI, ISP, DoP, and Police, can access the system during this maintenance period.
The External Affairs Ministry termed this 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 caused to the public. So rescheduling an appointment will not be a challenge," a senior official said.
Passport Seva is used to book an appointment at centers all over the country to apply for a new passport or its renewal. Applicants have to reach the passport centers on the date of their appointment and get their documents verified. This will be followed by a police verification after which the passport reaches the address of the applicant. Applicants can choose the normal method through which the passport reaches the applicant in 30-45 working days or the Tatkaal mode in which it reaches within 10 days.
Read also| Elon Musk Criticizes Mark Zuckerberg Over Child Exploitation Issues on Instagram
Read also | Zomato CEO Announces Removal of AI-Generated Food Images Following Customer Complaints
