E-passports will be issued this year to improve citizens’ convenience, according to Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, who presented the Union Budget 2022-23 in the Lok Sabha at the Budget Session of Parliament on Tuesday.
“WE ARE MARKING AZADI KA AMRIT MAHOTSAV, OUR FOCUS IS ON COMPLEMENTING MICRO AND MACRO ECONOMY, PROMOTING DIGITAL ECONOMY, AND PRIVATE AND PUBLIC INVESTMENTS,” SAYS SITHARAMAN
Citizens will get chip-enabled e-Passports with enhanced security features from the Ministry of External Affairs. The applicants’ personal information would be digitally signed and kept on the passport booklet’s chip.
At the moment, travellers are spending a significant amount of time at immigration desks to fulfil the requirements, since authorities must personally check through each item on the passport. The time spent at an immigration counter is predicted to be reduced by more than half with an e-passport. The microchip is also reported to hold biometric data as well as other information, making it easier to digitally identify a passenger. The chip can save information about prior travels.
