KOCHI: Passport applicants in the city and across the state have been complaining that the online system for submitting applications for passports is proving to be a bane.“When we apply online for the registration, the system allots us the time and date to submit the applications. But only when we go there that we realise that there are many others who have been issued the same time and date for submitting applications." "Waiting in long queues is fine but when you are told to come another day because the number of applicants for that day is completely filled is not right,” said Sam Eapen, an applicant.Thus, citing the problems of the online system, the passport officials here and elsewhere have decided not to strictly follow the rules set by the authorities. Ernakulam Regional Passport Officer B Sreekumar said: “Following the rules of time and date is completely impractical. Usually, there are more than 200 applicants who come and stand in queue at our passport offices. If we follow the time and date system, no work could be done. Also, we have a system wherein we are not allowed to accept more than 60 applicants a day since we do not have the facilities for that. But on such days we accommodate more than 150 applications because usually the applicants would have come from far and wide and would be standing for a long time in the queue with the applications. We cannot tell them to come another day.”Most of the complaints, though, come from people who have opted for the Tatkaal Scheme. “We pay extra cash and find ourselves being asked to come another day mainly because sometimes the computer overlooks that we had used the Tatkal Scheme and our applications have been transferred to another date,” said Saju Johnson. “The only positive thing about applying for passport registration online is the mistake-free applications that come our way,” RPO Sreekumar said.
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