Hyderabad RPO issued 4.42L passports last year

Hyderabad: The Hyderabad Regional Passport Office issued 4.42 lakh passports in 2021, Dasari Balaiah, Regional Passport Officer and Head of MEA Secretariat branch, said in the annual report of 2021. According to RPO, it started functioning in 1975 and is continuously rendering passport services in a timely and transparent manner.

There are four Passport Seva Kendras, one passport Laghu Seva Kendra and 14 Post Office Passport Seva Kendras spread across Telangana. The report listed the number of passports and Police Clearance Certificates (PCCs) issued during the last three years as: 5.54 lakh passports in 2019, 2.93 lakh in 2020 and 4.42 lakh in 2021.

During the lockdown, the passport services were normal; all emergency passports were attended to from RPO, Secunderabad. Post-lockdown in May 2021, the passport offices opened with 50 per cent appointments in June 2021 and later with 75 per cent in August 2021. In view of the demand for passports, 100 per cent appointments were released from September 23, 2021.

Appointment availability cycle in September 2021 was seven working days; it was increased to 15 working days in October and November. To reduce the delay in getting appointments, 200 additional slots a day were released throughout all PSKs in December 2021.

The passport applicants were attended to following all Covid protocols. This resulted in immediate dropping of waiting time for passport appointments at PSKs (Begumpet, Ameerpet and Tolichowki)/PSLK (Karimnagar) to 7-8 working days and to two days in PSK, Nizamabad, said Balaiah.