Assignment01-03-2014 Vishakha Pawar MMS-II- Finance-118 Service Management

Seek out for a service related article in the popular business press 1. Write a brief summary of the key points of the article 2. Also write a personal evaluation of reaction to the article based on service management perspective.
ONLINE PAYMENT TO PREVENT MALPRACTICES IN PASSPORT SERVICESTHE ECONOMIC TIMES

Summary Introducing online payment in order to prevent malpractices in obtaining appointments for passport services. According to sources 25-30% of applicants who get an appointment do not turn up at the respective offices To prevent fictitious identity details, payment was made recommendatory and obligatory. The proposal is likely to take effect by march Applicants going through agents thinking it will be easy channel for them to obtain a passport but there would be no special dispensation for them Government has ensured transparency by making passport application online. Partnership with IT major TCS with its software expertise till 2018 before further extension for two years with mutual consent Head of operations said enough security measures are in place for online application of passports to prevent malpractices and this included keeping a tab on IP address from where a particular submission would be made. Pardeshi said the government had issued 73.65 lakh passports in 2011, which was expected to touch 80 lakh by the end of calendar year 2012. There was 10 per cent annual growth in issuance of passports in the past few years. Personal Evaluation All payments should be through banking channels only, the govt is encouraging corruption by accepting cash for passport fees, and even the judiciary fees are accepted in cash which needs to change. Any system change is a welcome step provided it should be people/user friendly and eliminate middle men in the process would bring elatedness in every citizen of India.