e-Passport To Be Rolled Out in 2022-23; Here’s All You Need To Know About It

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has announced Union Budget 2022 today, on February 1. Nirmala Sitharaman stated today that e-passports will be available to the public beginning next year. Embedded chips and cutting-edge technology would be used in the e-passports, she said. Officials said the e-passports would have more security protections and will incorporate RFI and biometrics.

E-Passport and The Technology Utilized

The ePassport is an improvement to the conventional passport, intending to make it more secure and facilitate travel through immigration checks throughout the world. The ePassports will have a chip containing the personal information of the holder, comprising biographical information. IIT Kanpur and the National Informatics Centre (NIC) created the software for the ePassport.

The National Informatics Centre (NIC), which is part of the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technological (MeitY), is the technology partner of the Government of India. The National Informatics Center (NIC) was founded in 1976 to provide technology-driven solutions to the Central and State Governments.

Simplified Global Immigration Process

It will simplify the global immigration process while also increasing digital security for passport holders. The e-passports will adhere to International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) specifications and will be more lasting as well as harder to destroy.

ICAO is a United Nations (UN) specialized organization that was founded in 1944 to provide the standards and procedures for peaceful worldwide air navigation. India is one of its members.

Advanced Security Features

Citizens will be issued chip-enabled e-Passports with increased security features by the External Affairs Ministry. The' personally identifiable information of the holder would be digitally signed and kept on a chip inserted in the passport booklet.

If somebody tampers with the chip, the system should be able to detect it, resulting in the passport authentication failure. Apart from e-passport, there are also many highlights and updates of Union Budget 2022.