Passport Seva Project progressing well, says TCS

Leading IT services firm, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), today said the proposed Passport Seva Project is progressing very well and it was working closely with the government on the same.

"We are working closely with the government on the project. We are very much optimistic about the project as it is progressing very well," TCS CEO and Managing Director N Chandrasekaran said.

However, he declined to comment on particulars of the project, saying "TCS does not comment on specific deals."

According to an earlier report, the government has sent a notice to the company asking it to pay Rs 2-lakh as penalty for every week of delay in project. TCS missed its first deadline in June.

The Ministry of External Affairs' (MEA) Passport Seva Project is estimated to cost over Rs 100 crore. But even after a year since the government signed an agreement with TCS to issue passports within three sudays, the project is yet to take off.

However, recent reports revealed that the main reason for delay is that TCS had not got its software ready. There have been too many errors in the software which is currently in the testing phase. Once it is fully implemented, it will take three days to issue passports after police verification and just one day under the instant option.

TCS was to set up seven pilot Passport Seva Kendras (PSK) in Chandigarh and Bangalore by October 1.