External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Friday announced that passports would now be in both Hindi and English, and not just in English.
She also announced 10 per cent reduction in passport fee for applicants who are under eight and over 60.
Personal details in passports till now are printed only in English.
The external affairs minister was addressing an event to mark 50 years of the Passport Act, 1967.
These changes follow after minister’s December 2016 easing of rules to apply for a passport.
One of the big changes announced in December was the removal of the mandatory requirement of the birth certificate as the proof of date of birth. In addition, the new rules said that separated or divorced applicants will not have to mention the name their former spouse in the application form. As well, ‘sadhus’ and ‘sanyasis’ were allowed to mention the names of their spiritual gurus instead of their biological parents on their application forms.
It was decided last December that that all applicants can submit any one of the following documents – Matriculation Certificate, PAN card, Aadhaar Card or E-Aadhaar – that have the date of birth of the applicant. They can also provide a copy of the extract of their service record, driving licence, Election Photo Identity Card or LIC policy bond.
