'‘Reconstitute APJC-India with nine member from airlines and nine from agents with equitable representation’'

Biji Eapen, president,
IATA Agents Association of India (IAAI) 

FRIDAY, 07 JUNE 2013 Express TravelWorld

With commissions and transaction fees becoming a long standing bane for the Indian travel industry. Biji Eapen, president, IATA Agents Association of India (IAAI) talks about issues which need to be resolved on fast track mode. By Kahini Chakraborty

Supreme Court verdict on transaction fees and commissions is not being implemented. What is IAAI's approach to sort this issue?

IAAI is trying to enforce implementation of agency commission as a statutory right under theIndian Aircraft Act of 1934 and Rules 1937 with the uppermost Indian Regulatory Authority and Court of Law. We are focusing on the DGCA order dated March 5, 2010 and December 17, 2012, Supreme Court order dated January 23, 2013, Writ Petition WP(C)No 275/2013 pending at Kerala High Court and the Appeal Petition with Secretary, ministry of civil aviation (MoCA) under Rule 3B of Aircraft Act of India filed by Federation of Indian Airlines (FIA). As the situation with the secretary of MoCA is unpredictable, IAAI had filed an appeal in February and FIA had filed their rejoinder on April 17, 2012.

Meanwhile, MoCA has unbundled the airline services by airlines to charge on baggage, preferred seat reservation, food, etc. It may be a silent move to counter our commission issue but it is interesting to note that transportation of passenger baggage, like the agents commission is a statutory right for a travelling passenger and its transportation charges are already included in the fare as defined in the Aircraft Rules 1937. Hence, we don’t find any hurdles for implementing commission. IAAI directly and through our legal counsel, had approached secretary of MoCA for an earliest hearing.

What are the measures needed to educate agents on APJC? What are the issues and way forward?

Majority of agents still believe that Agency Promotion Joint Council (APJC) is only a dummy body whereas, it is responsible for the formulation of Agency Sales Programmes in each country. The need of the hour is to educate the agents and leaders on APJC, its scope, authority, functioning and terms on anti-trust law. Agents must be familiarised with IATA Res 810i, 818g, 800f, 800x, 820e, 824,832,850m and 878 enable them to conduct self-assessment and evaluation on the accountability and legality on the implementation of zero commission and transaction fee, procedural failures in application on financial guarantee systems, ADMs, TAP including the impending weekly payments. It should be an eye opener for agents to review their miseries, realise the realities. Accordingly let them suggest remedial requirements and allow the APJC-India to be responsible to reverse the 'weekly payment' back to fortnightly or even monthly, since the authority of altering or reversal on frequency of remittance period is wholly vested within APJC under the ambit of IATA Res 818g limited to 800x.

Apart from the commission issue, what are the other critical issues affecting the industry?

Agents community is controlled by certain vested interests. Many agents are still ignorant on travel agents handbook. Hence, many a times, IATA rules and regulations are misinterpreted to suit the situation. Ordinary agents are getting carried away with foreign conventions, FAM trips and five-star parties.

Please highlight some of the important IATA resolutions which travel agents need to be apprised of before they approach the government on issues affecting the industry?

Since all these issues – transaction fee, TAP (airlines authority to appoint their agents) ADMs, stringent financial guarantee including weekly payment are not the concern of one airline alone but the concern the whole industry, it will be easier to achieve these objectives only through a strong, self-willed APJC-India Group, which has to be expanded to 18 as warranted in 818g. Hence, reconstitute APJC-India with nine members from airlines and nine from agents with equitable representation of TAAI, TAFI and IAAI so that we can all speak in one voice.

Probe working of passport offices: CPI

SPECIAL CORRESPONDENt the hindu

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, June 30, 2013

The Communist Party of India (CPI) State executive committee has demanded a comprehensive inquiry into the alleged irregularities at the Malappuram and Kozhikode passport offices.

A resolution of the CPI committee, held here on Friday, said the allegations were too serious to be taken lightly. The person appointed passport officer at Malappuram was Industries Minister P.K. Kunhalikutty’s former gunman.

This appointment was illegal. Leader of the Opposition V.S. Achuthanandan had raised some serious questions about this, the resolution said.

The CPI leadership said it was a serious matter that the police had registered as many as 137 cases for tampering of passports.

CBI probes Bank accounts of Malappuram passport officer frozen

TNN | Jun 29, 2013 KOCHI: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Thursday froze two bank accounts in the name of Malappuram passport officer K AbdulRasheed.

The investigation agency, which has been probing the allegations of corruption against Rasheed, has also launched a detailed probe into his appointment as passport officer, as Rasheed was a police officer before.

Sources said Rasheed's appointment as the passport officer was against the norm, as theministry of external affairs ( MEA) had to give special sanction to appoint a police officer as the passport officer. Only Jammu & Kashmir has MEA's special sanction that allows appointing police officers as passport officers.

On Wednesday, opposition leader V S Achuthanandan had alleged foul play in the appointment of Rasheed as Malappuram passport officer.

According to Achuthanandan, industries minister and IUML leader P K Kunhalikutty had special interests in Rasheed's appointment. Rasheed was formerly Kunhalikutty's gunman. Rasheed allegedly demanded and accepted money from people for processing their passport applications. Earlier, in a surprise raid, the CBI officials had seized Rs 2.5 lakh from his residence.

Passport verification on sale!

TIE, Johnson T A : Bangalore, Fri Jun 28 2013,

One of the senior-most serving Indian Police Service officer in Karnataka, a senior Indian Administrative Service officer who retired recently, and four senior officials of the Karnataka government have been named for prosecution in a "cash for passport verification certificate scam", following an investigation by the state's anti-corruption ombudsman, the Lokayukta.

The Lokayukta carried out the investigation on the basis of a complaint by the External Affairs Ministry's Regional Passport Office in Bangalore of a large number of candidates seeking passports under the Tatkal scheme producing "verification certificates" from a common set of officials.

The Lokayukta inquiry report submitted to the state government last month has found evidence for prosecution of the six senior government officials under the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, for receiving pecuniary benefits and also for criminal misconduct.

The Lokayukta inquiry has recommended proceedings under the Indian Penal Code for forgery; and under the Indian Passport Act, 1967, for providing false information against the officials and 87 Tatkal passport applicants, who benefited from the certificates provided by these officials.

The Director General of Police for training, Sushant Mahapatra, a 1979 batch IPS officer who is currently second in seniority only to the current state police chief, and R Suresh, a 1976 batch IAS officer who until recently served as principal secretary in department of Personnel and Administrative Reforms, are the two senior most officers named by the inquiry. The others named in the inquiry are two deputy secretaries in Legislative Affairs department B B Pathar and Dwarakanath Babu, joint secretary in legislative council Srinivas, and tahsildar Ramesh Babu.

The Lokayukta provided the details of the inquiry under an RTI request. A complaint was lodged with the Lokayukta on the basis of a referral made to the agency by Chief Secretary S V Ranganath earlier this year after he was approached by the regional passport officer.

"Indiscrepancies in issuing passport certificates were brought to our notice by the passport office and the matter has been referred for action," Ranganath said.

"In the course of a periodic review of verification certificates produced along with Tatkal passport applications at the Bangalore RPO, officials found that an unusually large number of applicants had obtained certificates from the same set of government officials. The RPO brought this to the notice of the CS who referred it to the Lokayukta," a senior government official said.

The verification certificate from a senior government official of the rank of joint secretary and above in the bureaucracy and IGP and above in the police service vouches for the antecedents of a passport applicant and usually states that the official personally knows the applicant for three years or more.

The verification certificate is mandatory for issuance of passports at short notice for people travelling on work or other requirements under an emergency situation. The certificate is usually a substitute for the police verification that is otherwise mandatory for a regular passport.

Government officials are usually wary of indiscriminate issuance of verification certificates for fear of some applicants having criminal antecedents.

However, with a large number of young workers from other parts of India working in the IT and other sectors in Bangalore and needing to travel abroad at short notice, the demand for verification certificates to obtain Tatkal passports has been on the rise in recent years.

In its complaint to the Lokayukta this year, the Bangalore RPO provided details of each of the passport applicant it suspected of producing fake verification certificates.

"During the course of the investigation the Lokayukta interviewed 87 Tatkal passport applicants and some passport agents," the Lokayukta said in its reply to an RTI request for details of its investigations.

Many of the applicants have admitted paying money to touts for receiving their verification certificates and in most cases the applicants did not know the officials who issued their verification certificates. In some cases candidates paid up to Rs 10,000, which was split between middlemen and officials, sources in the Lokayukta police said.

The inquiry report has been forwarded to the state government for action by the police, but the government is yet to act on it.

"We are studying the report and will initiate disciplinary proceedings," said an official of the DPAR who have been tasked with acting on the inquiry report.

"The Lokayukta has not recorded my statement in this matter. About a year ago I was asked about this by the government and a response was provided. The Lokayukta cannot decide on these things and does not have the power. I can only respond to the government or a law enforcement agency. Also, there is no limit on the number of verification certificates that can be issued,'' said Sushant Mahapatra, Director General of Police for training.

Passport officer under CBI scanner for human trafficking.

Press Trust of India | 28-Jun 2013.

The CBI has initiated a probe against K Abdul Rasheed, Regional Passport Officer of Malappuram in Kerala, for alleged irregularities in issuing passports.

CBI sources said steps had been taken to freeze Rasheed's bank accounts as a prelude to the probe against him in the irregularities in issue of passports, which allegedly aided illegal human trafficking from the area.

The agency would also find out the circumstances under which Rasheed, a Deputy Superintendent in Kerala Police, was posted as the passport officer. The CBI team had conducted searches at the office and residence of Rasheed last week and seized some documents and Rs 2.5 lakh in cash.

The searches were also held in the wake of allegations that Rasheed got illegal gratification from passport applicants and agents to process applications without adhering to mandatory procedures. A total 137 passport cases have been registered so far, sources said.

Rasheed was appointed as Regional Passport Officer after the UDF government came to power. CPI-M veteran and Opposition leader V S Achuthanandan recently alleged irregularities in appointment of Rasheed as passport officer, who had about 10 years back served as gunman of Industries Minister and IUML leader P K Kunhalikutty, before getting promoted to higher ranks in the police.

Achuthanandan had sought a probe into the charge of irregularities in issuing passport from the Malappuram Regional Passport Office and alleged that Rasheed had suspected links with human trafficking.

Ishrat Jahan encounter: Accused cop says Modi knew of conspiracy

The CBI is set to submit before a court next week a testimony that claims Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi was in the know of a conspiracy by policemen to kill four people, including a woman, in 2004 and falsely pass them off as terrorists. The testimony is from a police officer who claims to have overheard a conversation between two other officers, one from the Intelligence Bureau (IB) and the other from the police, who were both said to be close to Modi at that time. The CBI would submit this testimony with its chargesheet in the case on 4 July. The testifying officer is an accused in the pre-dawn killing of the four people, including Ishrat Jahan, 19. The killings were carried out on 15 June 2004 by men of the Crime Branch of Ahmedabad, Gujarat’s largest city that adjoins state capital Gandhinagar. Police said the alleged terrorists were headed to assassinate Modi. To be sure, the alleged conversation — between Rajendra Kumar of the IB, a Central agency, and Crime Branch officer DG Vanzara — did not mention Modi by name. The testifying officer, who belongs to the IPS and whose identity TEHELKA has decided to withhold to protect him from intimidation, claims Vanzara told Kumar in his presence that the conspiracy to kill the four people had been approved by both the “safed daadhi (grey beard)” and the “kali daadhi (black beard)”.

Read online. tehelka.com

No Umrah visa after July 8

RIYADH: GHAZANFAR ALI KHAN | A N (STAFF) Thursday 27 June 2013

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has announced July 8 (Shaban 29) as the last date for seeking Umrah visas.

All Saudi diplomatic missions across the world will continue issuing Umrah visas until the “end of Shaban,” said Osama Nugali, a spokesman of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, here.

According to the statistics released by the Ministry of Haj, the Kingdom has already issued about four million Umrah visas this year.

“This is a routine procedure that is taken every year by Saudi Arabia,” said a travel agent Arif Kannauji, who has been working for a local Haj and Umrah operator in Riyadh.

“Every year, we are requested not to accept any visa application for Umrah during Ramadan,” he said.

The move, Kannauji said, was to ensure that all those willing to perform Umrah have received their visas well in time, during the month of Shaban itself. It normally takes 7 to 14 days to get a visa.
Umrah season starts in the month of Safar, the second month in the Islamic calendar, until the end of Ramadan.

Until July 1, about 3.8 million Umrah pilgrims entered the Kingdom, which is an increase of 400,000 compared to the same period last year, according to a report issued by the Ministry of Haj recently.

Between KYC, Aadhaar and CMS, India will be a police state

by R Jagannathan, Firstpost, Jun 26, 2013.

What is the main purpose of issuing citizens a passport? The idea, as the name suggests, is to enable a you and me to pass through another country’s port. It helps identify one as a citizen of a country, so that other countries know where you or I belong. The passport is one country’s guarantee to another that it is responsible for the person carrying the document.

But surprise! Thanks to stringent identity checks everywhere, the soft police state that India has become is forcing many citizens to carry their passports around to get into domestic airports, buy gold or start a bank account. From being an external validation document, the passport has become a domestic ID document.

What is the purpose of issuing taxpayers a PAN card? The idea is to give them a unique number so that their transactions can be matched, mapped and checked through backend software for potential tax evasion. But in India, the PAN card now travels in wallets, jostling for space with cash, credit cards and driving licences.

The Aadhaar logo. Image courtesy UIDAI

The PAN card has also become a primary identity confirmer. It is an essential requirement for opening bank accounts, or doing any kind of high-value financial transaction, but its largest role is about establishing identity. And getting it in future will become harder, Business Standardassures us.

What is the purpose of the Aadhaar card? It is proof of identity and residence -– not citizenship. The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) collects the biometrics of individuals residing in India—iris prints, fingerprints, demographic details, etc.—and issues you a unique number with which you can be identified anywhere and for validating any transaction. It is the ultimate weapon a police state can possess – and currently the Aadhaar card operates under no law, and has no legislation to protect the privacy of your data.

It is a rogue element in the pack.

But Aadhaar has become more or less mandatory without any law backing it since every other purpose—from obtaining PAN cards to starting demat accounts—can be served by seeding it with an Aadhaar number. It is a matter of time before every government department—from the provident fund office to banks to employment agencies to mutual fund registrars—will be demanding it. Aadhaar is voluntary, the UIDAI site assures us, but try arguing with your bank document-checker or the counter-girl at your mobile service provider. They don’t know that.

So what is one driving at? Four issues primarily.

One, Aadhaar is based on a very long list of documentary proofs – from credit card statements to letters of introduction from companies and educational institutions to even letters from MPs and MLAs, many of them possibly with criminal records. A thug can thus validate you Aadhaar form. And it has become the primary document for everybody – and it does not matter if you are not a citizen.

If you have an Aadhaar, you can get every other kind of document waived. It will become an entry point to legitimacy for every illegal migrant into India, or even crooks, even while it offers no legal protection to citizens who share their biometric data with the UIDAI.

Two, if Aadhaar becomes the primary number linking you to every possible transaction—from passports to bank withdrawals to tax returns to everything—it is like putting all your faith in the bureaucracy to protect you. In the wrong hands, Aadhaar details will compromise all citizen security. Anyone unscrupulous enough to be able to access your biometric data can use it to clean out your bank account – or even blackmail you. Aadhaar cannot be trusted till the law starts guaranteeing you your privacy and also provides clear safeguards against misuse.

Three, the whole business of KYC—know your customer—has now become a traumatic process for all citizens. If every single service you need from the state, private institutions (banks, mobile companies) or from anybody (civic authorities, gold jewellers, car retailers, or anyone seeking to sell anything above a certain value to you) needs a KYC, we are not only heading towards a police state, but also creating a new licence-permit raj with huge costs being loaded on to citizens without any corresponding benefits.

Four, the Centre is already arming itself with the capability to track every call, read every email of yours through an innocuously-named Central Monitoring System (CMS). Add the Aadhaar linkage, and it basically can map all your relationships and implicate you for someone else’s links to you – even if its one way. If some terrorist sent you a spam mail, you could be linked. Big brother is developing huge capabilities to reduce citizens to ciphers.

We need to ask ourselves the following questions:

1)   Does all this documentation and intrusion into private domains enhance our security one bit? Can we be certain that this sacrifice of privacy and addition of costs will prevent the next terror attack? There is no evidence of that.

2)  Do these KYC checks give us any kind of guarantee that our bank accounts won’t be hacked or that our phones won’t be bugged? For example, a bank account statement can help you validate a mobile service KYC. But should your mobile company have details of your bank records? Should he know how much money you hold in your bank account?

3)  Who is accountable if information is leaked from the system? We know how the Niira Radia tapes were leaked, and even Ratan Tata’s privacy could not be protected by the state or its officers. Then what about us?

4)  As citizens of a democratic country, do we need to be burdened with so many checks and counter checks? Have we compromised our freedom for minimal gains in security?

5)  How do we know the Aadhaar process is so safe when dogs, trees and chairs have been issued these numbers?

It is time to junk the whole nonsense of KYC as it is completely counter-productive. It is also time to question Aadhaar and its credentials. It should be scrapped if it does not guarantee citizen privacy with clear accountability established in case it is compromised.

What we need is a people-based system of identity and authentication where individuals can be authenticated by other individuals apart from documentation. Banks, mobile companies and other agencies should be asked to evolve their own system of verification instead of being forced to conform to government guidelines.

We all know how KYC norms were simply abandoned in the case of the CobraPost sting operations involving banks. When big money is at stake, KYC goes out of the window. KYC and harassment is only for lesser mortals.

Getting an Aadhaar card can land you in trouble!

New Delhi: If you are going to enroll for a unique identity card (UID or Aadhaar card), be careful! Think twice before you provide your personal details while filling out the forms as there are possibilities that the details provided by can be leaked to a third party and misused.

 

As you and your family submit your personal information in the UID application form, UID centres forward the information to different banks. The banks use the information to open accounts without your prmission and then inform you about it. 

 

According to a report published in Mid Day, a Colaba-based couple recieved a letter last week from the Indian Overseas Bank (IOB). It was addressed to their 10-year-old daughter, and claimed that a Savings Bank (SB) account had been opened under her name.

 

The family is now racked with anxiety, having no clue how their personal data reached bank officials without their knowledge or consent. While the bank officials claim that the data is directly sent to them by the central government, the UIDAI (Unique Identification Authority of India) officials say that no such information is forwarded to the banks without the consent of the applicant, says the report.

 

The couple had applied for Aadhaar cards around eight months ago. Both already had existing accounts with banks other than IOB. The letter, posted from the Nariman Point branch of the IOB, claimed that an SB account in Anamika’s name had been opened on October 13, 2012, based on her Aadhaar details. 

 

The letter further requested her to visit the branch within 15 days armed with her Aadhaar ID card, to complete the procedure and activate the account.

 

The final paragraph of the letter from IOB letter further requests the applicant to furnish the names, addresses and occupations of friends and relatives, particularly those staying abroad, so that the bank may contact them.

CANCEL PRIVATE TOUR OPERATORS' QUOTA IN HAJ: SALEEM TO PREZ

Samajwadi Party (SP) Rajya Sabha member Chowdhry Munnawwar Saleem on Tuesday called on President Pranab Mukherjee and demanded to cancel the Haj quota of private tour operators (PTOs) in view of Saudi Arabian Government’s move to slash 20 per cent quota for India.

Saleem apprised the President that the quota for the country set by Saudi Arabia was 1.25 lakh that has been cut short by 20 per cent due to some difficulties faced by that country. Of the total quota 45,000 seats are given to the PTOs and rest is allotted to the state governments. The PTOs quota is utilized by rich people who need to go through any procedure, they just need to have thick bank balances and that all, whereas those applying through state governments have to went through lottery for getting chance to fulfill their lifetime pilgrimage wish, he added.

He said that hence we demand that in view of the Saudi Arabia government move to cut short 20 per cent quota the quota for the state governments should not be disturbed as through them those persons goes for the pilgrimage who really are interested for it, not like those who go through PTOs for prompt and show.

 “Moreover the state government’s follow transparent system of lottery for the pilgrims, many of the Haj aspirants get chance after applying for 2-3 years, hence your intervention is sought so that in the name of quota cutting the poor should not be axed as they gets chance with very difficulty after passing through a transparent system instead PTOs quota should be reduced,” he added.

Postpone Haj if you can

In an unprecedented move aimed at preventing congestion and stampedes and ensuring safety of the guests of God, Saudi authorities have urged domestic and foreign pilgrims to postpone their Haj plans for this year if possible due to ongoing expansion work at Makkah’s Grand Mosque.

The call follows the government’s decision to reduce the number of foreign pilgrims by 20 percent and domestic pilgrims 50 percent this year. Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdul Aziz Al-Asheikh has backed the measure, saying it was taken in public interest.

In a series of announcements through the Holy Qur’an television channel, which is aired from Makkah, the government advised pilgrims intending to perform Haj and Umrah this year to postpone their plans to reduce congestion at the Grand Mosque.

“By making this announcement our government is not preventing anybody from Haj, but asking them to postpone in order to avoid congestion and help first-time Hajis to perform their religious duties without difficulties,” Saeed Al-Qurashi, a member of the Haj & Umrah Committee at Makkah Chamber of Commerce and Industry, told Arab News.

He said the mataf (the circumambulation area around the Holy Kaaba) could hold now only 39,000 faithful per hour, suggesting an influx of a large number of pilgrims could cause congestion inside the mosque.

“Once the mataf expansion is completed, it can accommodate more than 130,000 pilgrims per hour. So, it would be better for our brethren to come for Haj next year or after two years, when they will be able to perform their rituals with ease,” he explained.

Hatem Qadi, deputy Haj minister and spokesman of the ministry, emphasized the need for reducing the number of foreign and domestic pilgrims this year.

“The period for cutting the number of pilgrims will not exceed two years,” he said. The ongoing expansion work at the two holy mosques are aimed at accommodating more pilgrims in the coming years, he pointed out.

Qadi cited the grand mufti’s statement on the issue saying the government took the decision because it was essential. “The ongoing expansion is for the benefit of pilgrims,” the mufti said.

Mohammed Noor Rahman Sheikh, Indian consul for Haj, said his country would send more than 170,000 pilgrims this year. “We have been informed about the government’s plan to cut the number of foreign pilgrims by 20 percent,” he told Arab News.

PIL challenges Aadhar card compulsion, govt on notice

The Delhi High Court on Wednesday asked the Delhi government to reply to a plea seeking quashing of its executive orders to make Aadhar cards compulsory for the public to avail of various benefits and services.

Justice Rajiv Shakdher issued a notice to the Delhi government, seeking its view on a public interest litigation that termed the executive orders issued by the government of making the cards mandatory "illegal". Petitioner Ashutosh Chadola contended that the planning commission has said the cards were only optional and no one can be forced to get the card.

The petition sought a direction to the government to accept other identity and address proofs such as voter ID card, passport and other documents, prescribed by the Central Motor Vehicles Rules, for availing public services in Delhi.

"The entire (Aadhaar) project (of Planning Commission) is meant to be voluntary in nature and this is reflected in the Aadhar enrolment form that clearly mentions that the Aadhar enrolment is free and voluntary," it said.

The petition contended that the project was launched to empower the poor, who lack ID proofs, in accessing various welfare and other services.

The government, however, issued executive orders and made Aadhar mandatory for obtaining various certificates relating to "caste, domicile, income, death and birth."

Aadhar has also been made necessary for registration of various documents relating to property, will and marriages, the petition said.

It said the constitutional validity of UIDAI has been challenged in the Supreme Court and till the case is decided, "the burden of obtaining an Aadhar should not be made mandatory on the public for availing public services."

Want passport? Get set for e-woes

TNN | Jun 10, 2013

KOLKATA: The Passport Seva Kendra (PSK) may have put into use the best of technology, but when it comes to delivering prompt service to the applicants, not much has changed since the days when paper forms had to be submitted at the passport office and the entire process was carried out manually.

Once the summer vacation sets in, the demand for passports suddenly surges by leaps and bounds. For majority of applicants, it's a futile wait for months before falling prey to touts. Getting an online appointment is the first and the most difficult step while applying for a passport. In Kolkata, the online appointment window opens at 3.30pm and closes in two minutes.

Take for example the trouble that IT professional Kirtiman Biswas went through. He tried for a whole week but couldn't book a slot. "I submitted my application online on May 19 and tried to book an appointment. For the first few days, the system would get stuck after I filled in the Captcha code and clicked the 'submit' button. By the time it recovered, all slots would be filled up. It was frustrating. I cannot spare so many days for booking an appointment," the 25-year-old said.

One day, he had almost booked an appointment when the system logged him out. "When I logged back in, a message flashed that 950 appointments had been booked and the process was over for the day. It was only 3.32 pm," he said. Biswas finally managed to book an appointment on the seventh day and visited the Passport Seva Kendra (PSK). It didn't work out for him, though, as the officials asked him for more documents and turned him away.

Finally, Biswas approached one of the agents. After waiting for months, he finally got the passport just before his scheduled trip to abroad. But not all are as lucky as Biswas.

There is huge pressure on the regional passport office (RPO) for walk-in appointment, which can only be approved by the RPO or the deputy RPO. But even there, the authority cannot approve applicants beyond a number. The situation goes out of hand as 30-40% people who book appointments don't turn up eventually. The passport authority, therefore, is introducing paid-appointment booking. The State Bank of India will set up and manage the payment gateway, the regional passport office sources said. "With this, we hope, only genuine appointment-seekers will use the system," he added.

"Shortage of staff is our big problem. It is leading to over-burdening of employees. Fraudulent cases will also have to be eliminated. The situation will ease when mini-PSKs are set up in Siliguri, Kharagpur and Agartala. Each office can then process 200-250 applications daily, freeing up nearly 800-1,000 slots in Kolkata," regional passport officer R Shivkumar said.

It is not that the passport authority is unaware of the tout-network playing havoc with online appointment system. Recently, the passport seva issued a notice asking the applicants to desist from dealing with touts / agents who may be charging exorbitantly for their service and further, may be making false promises on arranging urgent appointment or faster passport service delivery. "The government has not authorized any intermediary representative to undertake such activity or to give such assurances. Such incidents of harassment / influence by them may be reported to the passport office," said another officer.

Passport office to keep touts out.

By Express News Service - BANGALORE  - 06th June 2013

The state’s new passport officer has decided to put a few checks and balances in place to avoid irregularities in issuing passports.

Addressing reporters here on Wednesday, P S Karthigeyan, who took charge recently, said his top priority was to barricade the passport office to restrict entry of touts.

“I have discussed the matter with the chief passport officer and the former passport officer,” he said.
“After looking into the details, we will have checks in place so that fraudulent agents find it harder to penetrate the process,” he said.

“I understand that a few isolated incidents have happened, but the trend will not continue,” he said.
Karthigeyan said he will visit all Passport Seva Kendras (PSKs) in the state by the end of the week.

If the involvement of passport officers in any fraudulent acts are confirmed, department-level action will be initiated against them, he said.

On a query over revamping of passport systems, wherein appointments were to be generated 21 days earlier in seven-day cycles, instead of three-day and two-day cycles, Karthigeyan said the performance of the system is under evaluation.

“The disadvantage of this method is that appointments get exhausted within two days of releasing them. We are yet to decide whether to continue with this new cycle or not,” he added.

‘PSK In Mysore in the Offing’ Karthigeyan said discussions were on to recommend the opening of a PSK in Mysore too.

“A final decision will be taken by the Ministry of External Affairs. We may recommend the opening of a PSK in Mysore depending on the demand coming from applicants in the region,” he added.

Criminals will be able to crack UID system easily: Jacob Appelbaum Interview with WikiLeaks activist

He prefers that the audio recorder is not switched on during the interview because “whenever there’s an audio recording, there’s a file to be subpoena-ed”. And, he’s stuck a band-aid over the camera of the laptop he’s been working on. All these precautions are not without reason – Jacob Appelbaum, computer security researcher, hacker, activist, and a spokesperson for WikiLeaks, who also co-authored Cypherphunks: Freedom and Future of the Internet with WikiLeaks’ founder Julian Assange, talks to Indulekha Aravind about the potential pitfalls of India’s ambitious UID project. Excerpts:
What is your view of India’s UID/Aadhaar programme?
UID will create a digital caste system because going by the way it is now being implemented, if you choose not to be part of the system, you will be the modern-day equivalent of an outcast. In theory, you are supposed to have the freedom to choose but in reality, the choice will only be whether to be left out and left behind.
What about the benefits it is supposed to offer, such as tackling corruption and protection against terrorism?
I don’t dispute that there will be benefits but I dispute whether UID will end corruption and whether one will be able to opt out of the system with dignity. Criminals will be able to subvert this system easily. In Germany, for example, a group of hackers were able to duplicate the fingerprint of Schauble (Germany’s finance minister, a proponent of collecting biometric data). And, it now costs less than a dollar to get a transferable fingerprint. About the question of containing terrorism, imagine a situation where a terrorist gets access to the central UIDAI (Unique Identification Authority of India) database — he will be able to get all the details of every individual he wishes to target.


Considering that the programme has already been rolled out, what can the government now do to safeguard individual privacy?
First of all, there should be no centralised database. The information should be just on the cards. This can easily be done with smartcards. If you link all the information, that amounts to surveillance. There should also be legislation to prevent discrimination against people who have not registered with UIDAI.
What is your current involvement with WikiLeaks?
I like that to remain ambiguous (smiles). I’ve given talks on behalf of Julian (Assange) when he was unable to. After one particular talk I gave in 2010, my life changed. I was repeatedly harassed by US authorities.
What are the other projects you’re currently involved with?
I do computer security-related research, I work with human rights activists, and work with open software. I’m also involved with the Tor project, which aims at improving users’ privacy and security on the internet. If an Indian businessman goes to China, for example, and does not want his internet usage to be monitored, he can do that with Tor. (The Wall Street Journal termed Tor “an anonymous, and controversial, way to surf the Net”).
You have been dubbed a “hacktivist”...
I started working with open software and hacking before I was 15, after I realised I wanted to live in a world free from state surveillance. I’m a human being who does investigative journalism, research, and even works on international policy – I prefer not to be pigeon-holed.