Pune: The Regional Passport Office (RPO) of Pune collects Rs 1 lakh daily from applicants as a penalty, as there are discrepancies in details about addresses, criminal cases and names mentioned in the documents and applications. Hence, the number of rejection of applications has increased.
According to the RPO, the number of rejections has increased because the applicants are hiding their local resident address, cases against them and name mentioned in the documents, which cause applicants to pay hefty penalties to the Regional Passport Office.
“Every day, we receive several applications, in which applicants do not give their local resident address. They instead provide their permanent address. During the police verification, the address is not found. In some cases, applicants hide details about criminal cases. We can’t proceed due to non-availability of court papers,” said Anant Takwale, RPO, Pune.
He said, “Every day, we collect around Rs 1 lakh as penalty from such applicants. The penalty amount starts from Rs 500.”
According to officials, such applications are mostly filed by agents or touts. These private agents tell applicants that there is no need to give their local address. They also tell them not to mention criminal cases.
“We accept documents if they are filled up properly. If applicants live in a rented house, they have to submit a rent agreement copy. If there are cases against them, they have to attach the court copy with the application,” said Takwale.
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