Rapid Fire
E-Passport
- 17 May 2025
- 2 min read
The Ministry of External Affairs has begun issuing e-passports in several cities under the Passport Seva Programme (PSP) 2.0, aimed at modernizing and securing travel documentation.
- Traditional passports remain valid, and conversion to e-passports is optional and gradual.
E-Passport:
- About: An ePassport is a combined paper and electronic passport with a Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) chip and an antenna embedded as an inlay of passport that contains the personal particulars and biometric information of the passport holder.
- The ePassport will be visually identifiable as a small additional gold colour symbol printed below the front cover of the passport.
- Advantages:
- Faster identity verification with secure storage of biometric and personal data.
- The secure digital signature safeguards the passport against forgery and fraudulent activities such as fake passports.
- Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) in epassport forms the security foundation by protecting sensitive information and ensuring the authenticity and integrity of personal and biometric data on the chip.
- PKI helps verify the origin of the data and prevents unauthorized tampering or copying.
Passport Seva Programme (PSP) 2.0:
- PSP 2.0, operational from 2024, is an expansion and improvement of the PSP which was launched in 2010.
- PSP 2.0 is a tech-driven digital transformation ensuring transparent, reliable, and integrated passport services.
- By March 2025, e-passports were issued in cities like Chennai, Delhi, Hyderabad, and others, with Chennai issued over 20,700.
| Read More: India’s e-passports: Passport Seva Programme (PSP) |
