Following the directives of Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, the Directorate of Immigration & Passport (I&P) has launched a crackdown against agents and tout mafia roaming outside its offices across the country. An official said that during the crackdown, so far 110 agents have been arrested and cases have been registered against them.
He said that the Interior Minister directed Director General (DG) Immigration and Passport to take action against those employees who are involved in facilitating agents' mafia outside passport offices. He also asked DG passport to device a comprehensive plan to get rid of agent mafia roaming outside passport offices. Sources said touts and agents are mostly seen roaming freely outside regional passport offices who by taking extortion money from unknowing applicants enable them to get to the counter, bypassing their patiently queued-up counterparts.
To avoid these queues and save time, some applicants fall a prey to these touts. The official said that to curb agent mafia, I&P Directorate has taken number of steps including accepting passport fee collection through Mobicash mobile payment and Interactive Voice Response (IVR) helpline 9988. He said through Mobicash mobile payment the citizens of Pakistan can now pay passport fee at any Mobicash outlet across the country. The applicant can also dial 9988 IVR-based helpline from the mobile phone to get information about any passport-related issue, and can ask questions to get answers. Initially, this information will be provided in English, Urdu, Punjabi, Sindhi and Saraiki.
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