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According to details, people from the metropolitan would not need to stand in long bank lines as they can pay the passport fee using their smartphones. The passport fee would be payable using a phone application ‘Passport Asaan Fee’ or an online portal. The service will be available from the next month. Currently, this service is only available in Islamabad, Rawalpindi, and Lahore.
Passport Fee Asaan, is a digital initiative for the facilitation of the People of Pakistan, by Directorate General Immigration & Passports, Ministry of Interior, Government of Pakistan. Passport Fee Asaan will help its users in Passport Fee Calculation and Payment process. The following features are part of this App:
- e-Payment
- User(s) can Calculate Passport Fees with a simple & easy Wizard to choose suitable options as per his/her own needs and generate a Payment Challan (PSID). This PSID can be paid via ATM, Internet-Banking, or 1-link member bank branches. Complaint Resolution
- Users can immediately launch a complaint about the payment process from this app and resolve it. Check Status
This is an excellent initiative by the Government of Karachi as paying the fee for a passport was one of the most exhausting experiences and digitizing it would prove to be beneficial for the citizens of Karachi. Soon it would be available for the rest of the Pakistan cities.
The following steps will be used for generating PSID and payment through 1-Link:
- Step 1: Mobile & Web Apps (“Passport Fee Asaan”) will be used to generate 17 digits Payment Slip Identification (PSID), notifying applicants via SMS/email (System generated).
- Step 2: The passport seeker, on his choice, using his/her accounts/IBFT, 1BILL, POC (OTC), Internet Banking, ATM, JazzCash, Easypaisa, or 1-Link Member branches including National Bank of Pakistan, will be able to pay passport fee under this PSID number, including 06-digit prefix 999999 before 17-digit PSID at the time of payment. Again, the user will be notified with an SMS (Bank’s payment confirmation) for payment acknowledgment on his/her mobile handset via 1-Link e.g. 999999XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX.
- Step 3: PSID number can also be used for checking the status of “Successful” & “Unsuccessful” payments by applicants through the Mobile & Web Portal module.
- Step 4: The Regional Passport Offices will enter & verify the PSID, paid via 1-Link at the token stage with the amount paid to capture data, accordingly, for the issuance of the passport.
- Step 5: Accounts Officer of DGI&P (HQ) will reconcile e-payments.
- Step 6: If cancellation of PSID is required for any reason, Officer In-charge may send an email to CTSC at “[email protected]”.
The DGI&P have provided the following instructions for anyone who wants to pay the online fee for their passports.
- Use your Original ID Card / CNIC No. without mistakes in digits entries, (13 digits) need to be followed in Mobile App & e-Portal payments solution.
- Before applying for a passport & online fee payment, the area jurisdiction policy must be followed.
- Once payment is done, it is non-refundable under the policy so take extreme care in data feeding while using mobile & web applications & online banking.
As time is moving forward, more Pakistani institutes are moving towards digitization, especially for payment options due to the terrible and time-wasting process of fee payment. NADRA (National Database and Registration Authority) just recently announced the arrival of its new e-payment system which is proclaimed as the final blow to ATM usage around the country. Claimed to be the replacement for ATMs, the e-payment solution will allow users to make easy electronic payments.
Alongside NADRA, 1Link also played an important role in building the e-payment solution. Once widely in use, this will be Pakistan’s biggest and most fully accredited payment gateway system. NADRA adds this new venture into its already successful catalog of solutions named ‘e-sahulat’.
With the launch, NADRA will start its mission of transforming over 17,000 e-Sahulat locations into full-featured ATMs. These locations will then also provide users with a number of different online payment options.
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