India’s first passport fee revision in 14 years went live on 1 July and is already altering corporate travel budgets. Ordinary 36-page passports now cost ₹2,500 (up from ₹1,500) and Tatkal passports ₹5,000 extra, while Police Clearance Certificates are priced at ₹750. According to an internal Ministry of External Affairs memo seen by Business Today, the Passport Seva portal received 178,000 applications on 30 June—triple the daily average—as travellers scrambled to beat the increase. Travel managers note that company policies pegged daily allowances to the old figures; they now face a 30-50 % rise in documentation costs for outbound assignees. Student counsellors predict additional financial strain on families already budgeting for higher foreign tuition fees. Conversely, analysts say the new fees still sit below those charged by regional peers Singapore and Malaysia, suggesting room for further upward adjustments. MEA officials argue the hike will fund new biometric enrolment kiosks and expanded Passport Seva Kendras in tier-II cities, promising shorter queues. Yet applicants complain that appointment slots in metro centres are fully booked for two weeks as the post-hike backlog clears. HR departments are advised to audit employees’ passport validity nine months before travel and to provision extra budget. Some firms are shifting urgent cases to regional offices where appointment wait times are shorter.
Source: Business Today
