Pune: Passport applicants are happy with the services being provided by the Regional Passport Office (RPO).
However, one thing that irks them is that Tata Telecommunication Services (TCS) officials at the RPO in Mundhwa allegedly compel them to buy the passport protective cover at an exorbitant price.
Moreover, the quality of cover received differ from the one shown while selling it.
Applicants visiting the Mundhwa office claimed that the TCS officials ask them to buy the passport cover when they present documents for the passport application. They also complained that officials mislead them about the quality of the cover.
Since October 2017, the passport covers have been made available at the Passport Seva Kendra (PSK) across the country as a value-added service after getting an approval from the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA).
The covers are sold at counter ‘A’, where the applicant submits his documents for verification. It is here that they are also offered the option of buying ‘SMS’ service at a charge of Rs 50. The passport covers are dispatched by TCS by ‘Speed Post’ directly to the applicant’s correspondence address as given in the application form within 15 business days of the successful payment for the same at the PSK.
There are three kinds of passport cover that are sold at the PSK, at Rs 350 (made from artificial fibre), Rs 450 (genuine leather) and at Rs 550 (genuine leather but a premium design). They are available in five colour variants namely - black, brown, tan, bright pink and blue.
“TCS officials claim that such covers are not sold anywhere else. Also, they show you the pictures of the ‘leather, premium covers’ while selling, but the one that you get at Rs 350 is substandard. It is not even leather. When I got mine, I couldn’t even fit the passport inside it properly,” said Rahul Thakur, who received his passport and the cover in October.
Juned Shaikh, another applicant, said that although he paid Rs 350 for the cover, he did not get it even a month after the application.
“I was told that I would get the cover within 15 days of my visit to the PSK in Mundhwa. However, it has been a month and I have not received my passport, there’s no sign of the protective cover. I said ‘yes’ to the offer because I was worried if I said ‘no’, it might affect my application status because the offer came from the same person who was verifying my documents,” said Shaikh.
When contacted, Anant Takwale, Regional Passport Officer, Pune, said that the passport cover sale agreement was done at the national level. He wouldn’t be able to comment on it.
“The decision was taken by the ministry at the national level. TCS is conducting the sale as per the agreement between Tata International and the MEA. It would be improper for me to comment,” he said.
