Getting an e-pass in Telangana no easy task for many

HYDERABAD: Applying for an e-pass from the Telangana police department for travel is getting increasingly difficult for many. The police are also rejecting several e-pass applications citing lack of supporting documents. This concern is not just prevalent in the rural areas, but also in the city, where people are finding it hard to even log into the website, as it is down more often than not. Officials managing the portal said that the website was slowing down due to heavy traffic, and claimed that this issue would be rectified soon. 

Tollywood actor Nikhil Siddhartha was one of the many people who could not apply for the e-pass as the “server was down”. He was stopped by the police while he was on his way to deliver medicines to a patient at KIMS Hospital. Despite showing them the medicines and the prescription, the police did not let him go through.

The actor took to Twitter to express his dissatisfaction with the website. “Was on the way to deliver Emergency Life saving Medicines from Uppal to Kims Minister road... In Spite of providing the Prescription and patient details.. was stopped and asked to Get an Epass. Tried 9 times but the server is down... I thought medical emergencies were allowed!!! [sic],” he tweeted.

Meanwhile, SA Maqsood, a social activist from the city, said that not everyone could access the website for an e-pass. “It is difficult for people from the working class, who may not know English, to access the website. This is especially a problem for many in the State, who know only Telugu and Urdu, and may not have smartphones or laptops with internet connectivity,” he added. Maqsood wrote to the Chief Secretary and the DGP, urging them to issue passes at the police station-level or ward-level after due verification.

Officials, meanwhile, clarified that passes were being issued for all the services and categories mentioned in the GO formulated by the State government. “Priority is given to applications with the earliest dates. People are applying for passes one month in advance. Such applications are processed at a later stage,” they said.

“Any application without a supporting document is rejected. However, in some cases, where people are travelling for final rites of their loved ones or even for weddings, they are allowed even without a pass after a spot inquiry,” they said. They added that since the web application was temporary, it was being upgraded on a daily basis to add new features, due to which it is under maintenance for a very brief period  of time everyday.

E-PASS TO VISITORS FROM OTHER STATES
The Telangana police have begun issuing e-pass to people from other States from Tuesday. As per previous orders, visitors had to avail passes from their respective States to travel to Telangana, said senior police officials. “After analysing the situation, we have decided to include the facility of providing e-passes to people coming from other States,” officials said

PRIORITY TO APPLICATIONS WITH EARLIEST DATES 
From May 12 to May 25, the police department had issued 1,24,225 e-passes. At present, only 13,000 passes are active. The police department is also addressing e-pass-related grievances through various social media platforms. They say that any application is processed within a maximum time period of 90 minutes, and are prioritising applications with the earliest dates of travel