Delay in passport police verification in PCMC area

PUNE: As many as 1,000 of passport applicants in Pimpri-Chinchwad area are facing delays in police verification due to the new system integration for the Pimpri-Chinchwad Police Commissionerate.

Applicants are visiting the passport office and police stations but they are getting a reply as the problem occurred due to Tata Consultancy Services (TCS). Most of these applicants had applied for a new passport on November 14 and the problem began on the same day.

In Pimpri-Chinchwad, the Post Office Passport Seva Kendra (POPSK) accepted the applications for new and renewal of passports from applicants. The new service was started almost two years ago. The service was only to provide the applicants so that they do not need to visit Pune office and Mundhwa Passport Seva Kendra. 

Mukesh Nandanwar, an applicant from Sangvi told Sakal Times, “I have applied for a new passport on November 14 at Mundhwa PSK. I applied in the normal category. Due to it, the process does not take a lot of time nowadays. But from November 14, I am continuously visiting the police station and POPSK as well. I was told by the police officer that there is the problem in the system and when I approached POPSK, the passport officer gave the same reason.”

Another applicant Jayant Kulkarni, a resident of Wakad, said, “From the last two weeks, I am visiting the police station for police verification. The police officials are saying that there is a problem in the system. Hence, they cannot help us.”

When contacted, Deputy Regional Passport Officer Jayant Vaishampayan confirmed that there is a problem in Pimpri-Chinchwad area due to the system.

“Pimpri-Chinchwad area now comes under the Pimpri-Chinchwad Police Commissionerate. The systems are under upgradation by TCS, which is the main service provider. We are very hopeful that by next week, everything will be alright. We can understand that the applicants are facing problems.”