Department of Information and Public Relations

Press Release No. 319/13

LAUNCH OF ONLINE PAYMENT SYSTEM FOR PASSPORT APPLICANTS

Shillong, June 20, 2013: With the establishment of Passport Seva Kendra in Guwahati under the jurisdiction of RPO Guwahati, MEA has taken assertive steps to deliver passport services to citizens in a timely, transparent more accessible and reliable manner.

To resolve the issue of non availability of appointments and to reduce no-shows of applicants, Ministry has launched online payment system for booking appointments. It was successfully launched at Dehradun and Vishakhapatnam.

With launch of online payment based appointments, applicants will be required to make payment at the time of booking appointment on the MEA website. With this, only genuine applicants will book the appointment and number of no shows will reduce.

Under the new system, payments can be made while booking an appointment on website -www.passportindia.gov.in either by credit/debit card (both master and visa) or internet banking of State Bank of India. Applicants can also use the challan option provided on the website and deposit the money is State Bank of India (SBI) branch after generating challan online. In such cases, upon the confirmation of payment receipt by SBI in online system, applicants can take appointment. Further, instead of applicant choosing the date and time slot of appointment, system will automatically give earliest available appointment.

Online payment system will be applicable for taking appointments for Guwahati PSK wef 14th June 2013 onwards. The new system will be gradually rolled out to all PSKs across the country in coming weeks. As part of MEA’s e-Governance initiatives, passport Seva Project (PSP) has transformed the passport issuance system across India through an increased network of 77 PSKs. The Ministry is improving governance in Passport Offices by focusing on citizen-centricity, service orientation and transparency.

For further information, refer to MEA website- www.passportindia.gov.in or contact the Regional Passport Office, Guwahati or call up National Passport Call Centre at 1800 258 1800.

Press Release No. 320/13

NOTICE

Shillong, June 20, 2013: Mr. Justice P. K. Musahary, retired judge of Guwahati High Court has join as President of the Meghalaya State Consumer Dispute Redressal Commission on the 18th June 2013 (Forenoon). The Commission will now hold regular sittings to dispose off the pending and new cases. The Commission will hold its sitting on 28th and 29th June at 11 AM in the court of the Meghalaya State Consumer Dispute Redressal Commission, New Administrative Building (Second Floor) at Lower Lachumiere, Shillong.