Passport status through SMS

TIRUCHI: The Regional Passport Office, Tiruchi, has pioneered the launch of passport application enquiry facility through SMS in Tamil Nadu.

All the applicants have to do is to send an SMS to the number 56505 after typing PP TR followed by the passport application key number – the 10-digit number assigned by the passport office and available on the payment receipt. To begin with, BSNL customers can avail themselves of the facility.

The BSNL has agreed to extend the facility to all SMS-enabled phones shortly, Regional Passport Officer S. Balachandran said on Monday, after the facility was launched by R. Sivakumar, Technical Director, National Informatics Centre.

The data will be updated thrice a day and be available round the clock. The facility has been developed by NIC in collaboration with BSNL without any expenditure to the Government.

However, applicants will be charged for using the facility as per the BSNL plan chosen by them.

Though status enquiry through internet is already available, applicants throng the passport office to know the status, due to lack of knowledge and access to internet.

Since mobile phone penetration is very high and SMS has become a popular medium even among the uneducated, the new facility is expected to be a great hit among passport applicants. This will help relieve pressure on the passport office employees and also further decongest the crowd at the office.

About 100 applicants visit the office every day from far-off places just to know about the application status, Mr. Balachandran said, assuring SMS response within 30 seconds through the facility.

Having processed 1.5 lakh applications, the Regional Passport Office, Tiruchi, earned Rs. 15 crore revenue in the last fiscal, he said.