Hyderabad, April 29: A sudden breakdown of computer systems sparked trouble again at the Regional Passport Office (RPO) with applicants venting their ire on harried officials.
The passport office has been beset with several problems, causing delays in the processing of applications in recent weeks.
When the enquiry counters opened at 9.30 am on Wednesday, a technical snag in the RPO computers brought work to a standstill.
Some 400 applicants who had been waiting in the queue since early morning were up in arms as the temperature rose.
One applicant told Express that there was utter chaos for more than an hour when passport officials declared that the computers were down. ‘‘They did not give us a proper explanation for the delay and when we asked them, they started arguing,” he said.
However, service was restored by 11 am but some technical problems continued to slow things down.
Applicants waiting for police clearance certificates (PCCs) were particularly frustrated. At one point of time, the personal secretary of Regional Passport Officer Srinivas Gotru came out and gave postdated appointments to applicants waiting for PCCs.
‘‘I work for a company in Kuwait and was transferred to Saudi Arabia. I applied for a PCC nearly two months ago,’’ said Jafar from West Maredpally.
–Agencies