External affairs minister Sushma Swaraj on Tuesday launched a Passport Seva app that will allow people to apply for the vital travel document from anywhere in the country using their mobile phones. Until now, applicants had no choice but to apply for the document at passport seva kendras (PSKs) in the areas where they lived and the application could only be made on a laptop or a personal computer.

The mPassport Seva App, released on the occasion of the Sixth Passport Seva Divas, is available on both Android and iOS platforms and will have the facilities to apply, pay, and schedule appointments for passport service.

In her address on Passport Seva Diwas, the minister also announced that the government would set up a PSK in every Lok Sabha constituency in the country, a step aimed at simplifying the process for issuing passports. She said each of the 543 LS constituencies would have a PSK at the earliest, directing the MEA and postal department officials to identify places where the new facilities could come up.

As of now there are 307 PSKs across the country. She said the NDA government had set up 231 PSKs during its four-year rule.

The Ministry said its other new scheme allows applicants to choose the Regional Passport Office (RPO) and thus the PSK and Post Office Passport Seva Kendra (POPSK) where they wish to submit their application irrespective of whether the present residential address specified in the application form lies within the jurisdiction of the selected RPO or not.

Swaraj, however, clarified that the police verification would be done on the basis of the residential address.

“The police verification, if required for a specific passport, would be conducted at the address specified in the application form. The passport will be printed and despatched by the RPO selected for application submission by the applicant,” it said.

Swaraj also recounted the measures taken by the government to simplify the process of issuing passports such as doing away with the mandatory requirement of submitting the birth certificate.

In December 2016, the government introduced rules that allowed applicants to submit any government document that bears their dates of birth such as school-leaving certificates, driving licences, PAN cards, Aadhar cards, voter cards, even polices issued by the state-owned insurer.

The government also said that attestation by magistrates or notaries would no longer be necessary and self declaration on plain paper will do.

Single parents, divorced or separated people and adopted children were among those who benefited from the changes made in 2016.

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