How To File Passport Grievances and Feedback

The CPV office of the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has set up an intuitive and user-friendly system for citizens to redress their passport-related grievances online. Waiting in queues to get information on the application status of one's passport has become a thing of the past now.

Additionally, the new online tool to check 'Appointment Availability Status' gives the applicant a specific time for meeting officials at the Passport Office. It ensures that neither the Ministry Officials nor the public waste any time.

Online Addressing Of Grievances and Submission Of Feedback

An online form is available for grievance redressal and submission of feedback for any passport-related matter. The following instructions can assist one in filling up this form.

Passport Reference Details

The first part of the form requires the individual to provide the relevant details to help locate the problem and address the particular grievance.

1. Your Reference Number: A drop-down menu containing the following options:

   • File Reference Number.

   • Application Reference Number.

   • Passport Number.

   • No Passport Reference Number.

2. One must choose the relevant option to submit the grievance.

3. Passport Seva Kendra: Another drop-down menu to select the Passport Seva Kendra (or office) nearest to the complainant, or the one through which the concerned passport was disbursed.

Applicant Details

This is the second part of the form in which one must enter the following personal details:

• Applicant Name: to be entered as it appears on the passport, within 90 characters.

• Date of Birth: to be entered in the DD/MM/YYYY format as it appears in the passport.

• Current Address: the complete mailing address of the applicant's current residence, within 100 characters.

• Mobile / Landline number: a valid phone number through which the Passport Office can contact the applicant.

• E-mail: the registered email ID.

Application Details

This is the final part of the online tool which deals with information about the type and nature of grievance or feedback.

1. Category: A drop-down selection box offering the following options under which the grievances are usually submitted:

   • Delay in Processing of Passport.

   • Delay in Application Submission.

   • Appointment Related Issues.

   • Police Related Issues.

   • Postal Related Issues.

   • Passport Booklet Related Issues.

   • Portal Related Issues.

   • Complaints against a call center.

   • Miscellaneous.

   • Feedback.

2. Sub Category: Each option in the main categories have subcategories under them to further categorize and narrow down upon the nature of the problem to help the Passport Office in finding the perfect solution to the grievance quickly and efficiently. Most of these sub-categories are either self-explanatory or contain instructions in brackets.

3. "Delay in Processing of Passport" category contains the following sub-categories:

   • File lost by PO.

   • Passport Application not accepted at Granting Counter.

   • Passport Application not accepted at Verification Counter.

   • Passport granted but not printed.

   • Police verification report has been received but Passport not granted.

   • Other issues related to the processing of passport which does not fit into the above categories.

4. "Delay in Application Submission" category contains the following sub-categories:

   • Passport Application and Documents not accepted at the Passport Office.

   • Passport Application and Documents not accepted at the Online Portal.

   • Passport Application and Documents not accepted at the Passport Seva Kendra.

   • Other issues related to the processing of passport which does not fit into the above categories.

5. "Appointment Related Issues" category contains the following sub-categories:

   • Delay in scheduling appointment date at PBO/PSK. (Grievances against the appointment generating system.)

   • Appointment not honored by the Passport Official (If the passport officials refuse to honor a scheduled and valid appointment for no genuine reason.)

   • Other issues related to the processing of passport which does not fit into the above categories.

6. "Police Related Issues" category contains the following sub-categories:

   • PVR Not Completed. (even after waiting more than the stipulated maximum time.)

   • Complaint against a police officer. (for misbehavior, non-performance of duties related to passport work.)

   • Other issues related to the processing of passport which does not fit into the above categories.

7. "Postal Related Issues" category contains the following sub-categories:

   • Passport dispatched but not received.

   • Passport dispatched but lost in transit.

   • Others.

8. "Passport Booklet Related Issues" category contains the following sub-categories:

   • Incorrect details in the passport. (printing mistakes)

   • Quality of the booklet received is unsatisfactory. (failing to be of standard quality in terms of materials used and the number of pages, etc.)

   • Other issues related to the processing of passport which does not fit into the above categories.

9. "Portal Related Issues" category contains the following sub-categories:

   • The website is not updated.

   • Information sought from the website is unavailable.

   • Passport Seva Website is not working.

   • Passport Seva Website is working slowly.

   • Problems while uploading the form.

   • Problems while attaching the documents.

   • Problems while retrieving files during the second session.

   • Other issues related to the processing of passport which does not fit into the above categories.

10. "Complaints against a call center" category contains the following sub-categories:

    • Incorrect or Insufficient details provided by the call center executive.

    • Call center executive unreachable during working hours.

    • Bad Behaviour by call center executive.

    • IVR Related Issues.

    • Others.

11. "Miscellaneous" category contains the following sub-categories:

    • Other issues that do not fit into the categories specified by the department.

12. "Feedback" category contains the following sub-categories:

    • Suggestion (for suggesting any improvements.)

    • Appreciation. (for encouraging the department to consistently perform well.)

13. Description: A mandatory section for describing the grievances and placing a request for the redressal of the grievance. (within 3000 words.)

14. National Call Centre for Grievances

15. If an applicant wants to resolve a query offline over the phone, they can reach out to the Passport Office's toll-free National Call Center.

    • The Passport call center operates 24 hours a day and on 7 days a week,

    • It is available in 17 Indian languages.

    • The call center number is 1800-258-1800.

    • The IVR facility itself gives access to a vast database of information. Alternatively, one can directly speak with a customer care executive.

    • All doubts can be clarified and grievances can be redressed.

16. mPassport Seva Mobile App

17. The Passport Office has released a smartphone application. The App works in the iOS, Android, Windows as well as Blackberry platforms. This application informs the citizens about:

    • The various steps involved in the passport application process

    • The system of addressing grievances.

    • Information on different passport related services.

    • Locations of PSKs (Passport Seva Kendra) and DPCs (District Passport Cell).

    • The system of tracking the status and progress of passport applications.

18. SMS

19. The payment of a one-time enrolment fee of Rs.30 at the nearest Passport Seva Kendra gives the citizens access to an SMS query responder service. The status of the application can be found out by sending an SMS to 9704100100 in the following format:

20. < STATUS > < space > < file number >

21. Central Public Grievance Redress And Monitoring System

22. Any grievances related to passport can be raised through the CPGRAMS portal, and its status can also be tracked online.

23. Public Grievance Cell

24. The Chief Passport Officer (CPO) supervises the Public Grievance Cell of the CPV Division. This department handles all the grievances and feedback that are received over telephone, post and e-mail. The department can be reached by sending an email to [email protected]

25. Direct Public Interface

26. All citizens can visit the nearest Passport Office between 10 AM - 1 PM to inquire about the status of their applications or submit their documents or request clarifications on the different aspects of the passport generating process. An Enquiry Counter or Information Facilitation Centre (IFC) are present at each Passport Office.

27. Passport Adalats

28. The complex cases and the ones that have not been resolved for a long period can be further escalated at Passport Adalats organized by the Passport Office at regular intervals.

29. Tracking the Status of Grievance/Feedback/Service Request

30. After a service request or a grievance is raised, the Passport Office takes some time to revert. During this time, citizens can track the status of the grievance or request that they have submitted by using an online tool. At least one of the following information is required for the same along with the applicant's date of birth (DD/MM/YYYY format):

    • Service Request Number: Every applicant is assigned a request number after submitting a request or a grievance

    • Application Reference Number: This can be used if one doesn't have a Service Request Number.

    • File Number: In the absence of both the Service Request Number and the Application Reference Number, the File Number can be used.

    • Passport Number: In the absence of all of the above, the Passport Number can be used to check the status of the service requests that were placed through that Passport Number.

31. The passport office strives to optimize their efficiency of delivering top quality knowledge and services to the citizens through its online portal.