Bengaluru: The Regional Passport Office (RPO), Bengaluru has opened 11 Post Office Passport Seva Kendras (POPSKs) in Karnataka earlier this year to reduce the load on the five Passport Seva Kendras (PSKs), in Bengaluru (Lalbagh Road and Marathahalli), Hubballi, Mangaluru and Kalaburagi.
“The new POPSKs were opened in February and March. The first POPSK was opened in Mysuru last January. The new POPSKs have been opened at Belagavi, Shivamogga, Ballari, Davangere, Udupi, Gadag, Raichur, Bidar, Tumakuru, Hassan and Vijayapura,’’ Regional Passport Officer Bharath Kumar Kuthati told reporters.
Karnataka has the unique distinction of having a single RPO, unlike other States such as Maharashtra and Kerala. The new POPSKs mean that passport applicants can now apply at the closest option for them.
“We are releasing 50 appointments per day in the newly POPSKs and are planning to increase it to 75 per day soon as the waiting time for an appointment in some places, like in Belagavi, is 20 days,” he said.
Bengaluru RPO saw an 8.53% increase in applications in 2017-18 compared to the previous year (7.22 lakh versus 6.66 lakh the previous year).
