E Passport In India – Benefits, Features And More

To increase travel document transparency and security, an e-Passport is a chip-enabled passport with a biometric identity card. Although, do remember that in terms of use, information and verification it is identical to a physical passport.
 
E passport in India makes use of the 64 kilobyte storage capacity of an implanted rectangular antenna type electronic chip. The e passport will be valid for 5 or 10 years, depending on the applicant’s age.

It was created by a collaboration of three prominent Indian technological institutes:
●   Indian Institute of Technology-Kanpur.
●   National Informatics Center (NIC) and
●   Officials from the Ministry of External Affairs and India Security Press.
 
The implementation of the Indian e-passport will be compliant with International Civil Aviation Organization requirements, allowing it to function globally. It is built in such a way that data access from any distant source is impossible.
 
India Security Press, Nashik, has been granted a contract for the acquisition of ICAO (International Civil Aviation Organization)-compliant electronic contactless inlays, as well as the operating system required for chip-enabled e-Passports, in order to produce e-Passports.

The e-Passports will be issued when the ISP has completed the procurement procedure.
 
Apart from e Passports, the government is proposing to create digital passports that may be stored on a smartphone by the owner.

In India, the e Passport offers the following benefits and features:
 
●   Passengers with an e-passport can experience faster processing
●   It keeps track of people’s biometric data preventing data piracy and duplicate
passport creation.
●   The e passport authentication is programmed fail if it is tampered with.
●   Data can’t be erased
 
The e-passport has a number of security measures. Some of these measures include:
 
●  Holographic pictures embossed on a laminated film that appear to change color
and move when exposed to light.
●  Bearer’s demographic information.
●  Bearer’s biometric information.
●   Imprints of all ten fingers of the bearer’s hand.
●   A scan of the bearer’s iris.
●   A colored photograph of the bearer.
●   The bearer’s digital signature.
As of now, there have been no changes to the passport application procedure and applicants must apply through the online Passport E Seva website.

According to Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, e Passports would be implemented in India by 2022-2023.

In India, an e Passport with an electronic data chip adds an extra degree of protection to a standard passport. It strengthens the accessibility between the passport and its owner and helps to prevent fraud and forgery.
 
A standard passport, on the other hand, also known as a machine-readable passport (MRP), often comprises data pages containing printed information about the owner that can be scanned by an optical scanner.

The e Passport is currently used in over 120 countries across the world. Individuals can use it for the purpose of traveling abroad or as evidence of identification.