The Passport Seva Portal experienced widespread server outages on Thursday and Friday, crippling operations across Passport Seva Kendras (PSKs) in major cities like Delhi, Bhopal, Thane, and Ghaziabad. The unexpected disruption led to last-minute appointment cancellations, long queues, and mounting frustration among applicants — many of whom had urgent travel plans.
Social Media Flooded with Complaints
Multiple users took to social media platform X (formerly Twitter) to voice their grievances. User Abhishek Rathore posted:
“@passportsevamea the website/app isn’t working… we know that you don’t want to travel seeing the conditions around but still I want to renew my passport so kindly make your WEBSITE WORK.. Thanks.”
Applicants reported reaching PSKs only to discover locked gates, pasted notices, and no prior SMS, email, or phone notification about the disruption. In Ghaziabad, user Vidya Nand Rai shared a photo of the notice posted at the centre that read:
“Due to a technical issue, unable to process a request.”
Travel Plans in Jeopardy
The outage has caused major uncertainty for travelers, especially those with time-sensitive commitments. Rahul Sharma, who had applied for his son’s passport ahead of a family trip to the US, said:
“The last-minute cancellation is putting our trip in serious trouble. We’re planning to attend my daughter’s graduation, but without the passport, I can’t even begin the visa process. With the long US visa wait times, these delays are extremely problematic.”
Similar sentiments were echoed by many others — including parents of minors, students, and business travelers — who said the breakdown had wasted their time and derailed plans.
MEA Remains Silent
Despite the nationwide outage, neither the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) nor the official Passport Seva handle (@passportsevamea) had issued any public acknowledgment or explanation as of Friday morning, leading to further anger and confusion among citizens.
Recurring Technical Failures
This is not the first instance of such disruption. A similar server crash in April brought PSK services to a halt for two consecutive days, prompting widespread cancellations and delayed appointments.
With another round of technical failure and no official response, concerns are mounting over the digital reliability of India’s passport issuance system — especially as the demand for international travel surges post-pandemic.
Applicants are now demanding accountability, better communication protocols, and upgrades to the Passport Seva IT infrastructure to prevent recurring chaos.
