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India is introducing advanced e-passports with new security features like tiny letters, special color designs, and built-in chips that hold secure personal information. All new passports will be these e-passports, while old ones will still be good until they expire. The goal is for everyone to have an e-passport by June 2035. Each e-passport has an RFID chip and antenna that safely stores encrypted personal and biometric data, such as photos and fingerprints, in a way that meets international standards. This allows for quicker and more dependable identity checks at immigration, making it harder to commit fraud or damage the passport. So far, 8 million e-passports have been given out in India, and over 60,000 by Indian offices in other countries. The RFID chip safely keeps the passport holder's personal details, like photos and fingerprints, in a coded form. This digital feature helps immigration officials confirm identities faster and more reliably, lowering the chances of fakes and fraud.
The new system improves how long passports last by reducing how much they are touched. Top officials at the MEA stated that the updated system will greatly cut down on passport fake documents and stop people from having more than one passport. This new system checks an applicant's unique body information against a main computer, quickly showing if that person already has a passport.
The Passport Seva Programme Version 2.0 (PSP V2.0), which began in May 2025, is now working in 37 main passport offices, 93 passport service centers, and 451 post office passport service centers. The worldwide version of this program, GPSP V2.0, started on October 28, 2025, to make passport services better at Indian offices in other countries. The improved system includes smart computer programs that chat and talk to help with applications and complaints, allows documents to be uploaded online, fills out forms automatically, and lets you pay with UPI/QR codes. Better ways to identify people using their unique body features and faces, computer-generated warnings, and data analysis also make the system safer and work better. The system also connects with DigiLocker, Aadhaar, and PAN for easy checking of documents.
Other features involve using robots to check documents, screens that respond to touch, digital signature devices, and live reports. A national phone center helps people in 17 languages. Three advanced computer centers in Noida, Chennai, and Bengaluru support the improved system, making it very secure and safe from attacks. The MEA stated that this program, which issues over 15 million passports yearly, has made things easier to access and more effective, making people trust it more. Mobile passport service vans are used in all 37 regional passport offices to serve areas that don't have good access, and only 32 out of India's 543 Lok Sabha areas still lack a passport office, with plans to add them within half a year.
