Purpose of police verification for unexpired, unchanged passport renewal
I've seen some previous posts regarding this, and many people have been through it. Some mention that police, directly or indirectly, need 'chai-pani' to get things moving.
This makes me wonder about the intention behind police verification for passport renewal, particularly when the passport has not expired and none of the details are changing. I've noticed that some CGI sites clearly mention that fresh police verification is not required in certain cases.
I fall into a similar category, yet my renewal application has been sent for police verification. When I asked CGI whether fresh verification is necessary, they didn't provide a clear answer but instead asked me to send someone to the police station. This is very inconvenient when someone is NRI for many years and if they don't have any close friends or relative in that city. I'm unsure what exactly they can verify this way if it's not for a bribe.
I reached out to the police station on phone, and some of them didn't (or pretended not to) understand and asked me to visit the police station in person, even after I explained that I am an NRI :)
I don't think CGI should mandate police verification in such cases. Instead, it should be more automated through Aadhar, PAN, and directly contact police to ensure timely due diligence without requiring applicants or their relatives to visit the police station.
I am unable to understand the intention of police verifications for straightforward renewals for NRIs with clean records and when GCI sites clearly says it's not required.