Parliament Question: Illegal activities in passport offices

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF EXTERNAL AFFAIRS RAJYA SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 4412 ANSWERED ON - 02/04/2026 ILLEGAL ACTIVITIES IN PASSPORT OFFICES 4412. SHRI SANT BALBIR SINGH Will the Minister of EXTERNAL AFFAIRS be pleased to state:- (a) whether complaints have been received regarding corruption, bribery or exploitation of citizens at various passport offices, such as Regional Passport Offices or Passport Seva Kendras during the last five years; (b) if so, the details thereof, including the name of the passport office, city and the number of complaints; and (c) the details of investigations conducted and the number of cases in which action has been taken? ANSWER THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF EXTERNAL AFFAIRS (SHRI KIRTI VARDHAN SINGH) (a to c)Complaints alleging corruption, bribery or exploitation of citizens at various Passport Offices, including Regional Passport Offices (RPOs) and Passport Seva Kendras (PSKs) across different cities are processed in compliance with Department of Personnel & Training’s guidelines on handling of such complaints, as contained in O.M. No. 104/76/2024-AVD-I dated 09.10.2024. Complaints are examined and action is initiated at either RPO or Ministry level. In addition, preventive vigilance is accorded due priority through a system of regular inspections of RPOs and PSKs across the country, to ensure transparency, accountability and adherence to prescribed procedures. Inspection of 19 Passport Offices was conducted by the Ministry during the period under reference which, along with other vigilance inputs from investigative and enforcement agencies, also formed the basis for initiating appropriate action wherever warranted. Action taken on the basis of complaints, preventive vigilance, and vigilance inputs from investigative and enforcement agencies includes issuance of Show Cause Notices/Memorandums, transfers, suspensions and imposition of major/minor penalties as per the extant rules. As a result of such vigilance measures, 30 officials have been placed under suspension, requests for Sanction of Prosecution (SoP) have been processed in respect of 97 officials, minor penalties have been imposed on 13 officials, and major penalties have been imposed on 2 officials during the period under reference. The details of such cases are enclosed at ANNEXURE-I. 1ANNEXURE-I 2021-25 No. of No. of No. of No. of minor Sanction of suspensions Major RPO penalties Prosecution penalties imposed (SoPs) imposed processed Bangalore 1 3 2 - Jammu 1 1 1 - Chandigarh - 1 1 - Madurai - 29 - - Ahmedabad 2 - - - Delhi 1 9 3 - Tiruchirappalli - 14 2 - Pune 2 - - - Guwahati - - 1 - Kolkata - 16 8 - Patna 3 - - - Ranchi 1 - - - Jalandhar - 2 2 - Ghaziabad - 4 1 - Raipur - 1 1 1 Hyderabad 1 - 1 - Mumbai - 15 3 - Shimla - - - 1 Surat - 1 1 - Lucknow 1 - 2 - Vijaywada - 1 1 - TOTAL 13 97 30 2 ***** 2