Technical glitch hits passport servers nationwide for 2 days | India News – The Times of India

PUNE: The technical glitch plaguing passport servers nationwide continued for a second day on Wednesday, with applicants across major cities expressing frustration as appointments continued to be cancelled or delayed.
Regional Passport Offices (RPOs) in Mumbai, Pune, Delhi, and other cities witnessed chaos as server issues that began Tuesday worsened, affecting numerous applicants who had scheduled appointments months in advance. “The server problem persisted even on Wednesday pan-India. We are trying to sort the issue as soon as possible, and everything should run smoothly soon,” a senior passport official said.
“The PSK Pune-Ghorpadi office has not been operational since yesterday due to server issues. I had an appointment at 3.30pm but received no message or email informing me of any cancellation. I’ve been waiting since 12.30pm,” said Mahsku Phadtare, an applicant who urgently needed to travel abroad for work. “Officials are only giving one response: ‘Reschedule your appointment or visit Solapur PSK‘. This is extremely difficult when I need to travel urgently for professional commitments.”
The Mumbai RPO acknowledged the crisis on social media, posting: “Appointments for passport applications at all PSKs/POPSKs under RPO Mumbai are suspended till 1pm today (Wednesday) due to server issues. Affected applicants may reschedule the appointment to a further date.” It later added that applicants would receive an additional chance to reschedule if they had exhausted their three allowed attempts. Parents of minor applicants have been particularly affected.
Rahul Singhvi said on X: “My child missed school because of a scheduled passport appointment. It would have been really helpful if we had been informed earlier.”
Pallav Kadhi, a businessman from Warje, told TOI, “We had been standing in extreme heat outside the passport office gate for hours Wednesday, and finally they told us to leave, stating: ‘All passport services were suspended for April 9. Additional chance for applicants to reschedule will be communicated.’ The next available appointment date is after one and a half months on the passport website. This means my plans for an upcoming Thailand business trip stand cancelled.”