HYDERABAD: Henceforth, new passport applicants can carry Aadhaar cards, driving licenses, voter ID cards, through DigiLocker account and do not need to carry these documents physically to the passport office on the day of appointment, according to Regional Passport Office, Hyderabad.
In the existing system, applicants had to bring original documents along with self-attested copies, which were then physically verified by the passport officials in the designated Passport Seva Kendras (PSKs), now the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has made this facility for the passport applicants and acceptance of e-Documents stored in the DigiLocker is enabled at the time of filing passport applications and applications for other related services, the RPO release said. These digital documents are a legally valid document under the Indian IT Act 2000.
“Applicants can register an account on DigiLocker before submitting an application if they don’t have it already. Now, at the time of filling the passport application, a button ‘fetch from DigiLocker’ will be displayed, through which the selected documents can be shared via DigiLocker,” according to Dasari Balaiah, regional passport officer, Hyderabad.
As of now, there is no move to completely switch over to the online mode. Either of the modes — physical proof of documents as well as DigLocker mode — is being accepted, clarified the RPO. “The DigiLocker is currently accepting documents including Aadhar card, Pan card, driving license and newly issued SSC certificate,” Balaiah told TOI.
The new system will have two-fold advantage, that the applicants will not have to physically carry documents and time needed for verifying documents will reduce,” according to RPO. Now, with this DigiLocker facility, applicants are freed from all those efforts, he added.