During the 2022 Union Budget speech, Honorable Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced the plans to launch e-passports in India by 2022-23. Now, this comes as a big announcement for travellers to enhance convenience for citizens. Moreover, the country will soon use Radio-Frequency Identification (RFID) and biometrics to improve the level of identity verification. Earlier in 2019, External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar first announced the concept of e-passport. Here’s what we know so far of the concept and what will it bring for the citizens:
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What is E-passport?
It’s a digital passport serving the same purpose as a traditional passport. However, this passport comes with an electronic microchip that carries the same information as the traditionally printed passport. It will be including the passport holder’s name, date of birth, and other details. However, this will be more secure than a traditional passport. That is because the e-passport would contain an electronic chip that will carry the same information as the printed passport.
Furthermore, the e-passport would eliminate the need to stand in long queues in front of the immigration counter. It can be scanned in minutes as opposed to the physical verification at the immigration counter. It will also help curb the fake passport business as the scammers would find it hard to fiddle with the data recorded on the microchip.
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What more does it bring?
The e-passport will house an inlaid chip that will contain all the personal information of the passport holder. The chip which will be on the back of the passport will come with 64 kilobytes of storage space and an embedded rectangular antenna. The chip will contain data from up to 30 international trips initially. However, in the later stage, the chip may also store the picture of the passport holder. In addition, it will also include biometric data such as fingerprints. If anybody tries to tamper with the chip, it will result in failure of passport authentication, according to reports.
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How to get chip-based passport?
To manufacture e-passports, India Security Press (ISP) awarded the contract for procurement of International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO)-compliant electronic contactless inlays along with its operating system necessary for chip-enabled e-passports. On successful completion of the procurement process by ISP, the issuance of e-passports will commence.
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In related news, the e-passport concept is not new to the world. Over 120 countries, including the US, UK, and Germany have already adopted biometric e-passport systems. We will update you as more information starts to come in!
