One Call Home: Indian Govt Plans Global Toll-Free Passport Helpline | Exclusive

Last Updated:February 22, 2026, 08:00 IST

Indians abroad may soon dial a single toll-free number to reach passport support in India, with the government set to bear all international call charges

The Government of India is preparing to introduce an international toll-free number service that will allow Indian citizens abroad to connect directly with passport support services in India—without paying for the call. There will be no international calling charges and no complicated routing. Just a single number that works.

For millions of Indians living, studying, and working abroad, questions about passport renewal, reissue, or urgent grievances can come at stressful moments—a lost passport before a flight, a name correction needed for a visa, or a delay that threatens a job opportunity. In those moments, what matters most is simple access to help.

The Ministry of External Affairs is now working to make that access easier than ever. CNN-News18 has accessed a document that has details of the proposal.

The proposed international toll-free number service is designed to bridge physical distance with seamless communication. Citizens calling from outside India will dial a dedicated toll-free number from their respective countries.

That call will automatically land at the existing Passport Seva Programme Contact Centres located in India. The experience will feel local to the caller, even if the support team is thousands of miles away. The objective is inclusivity—ensuring that even citizens in countries without an Indian embassy or consulate can still reach help.

For a student in Europe who has misplaced her passport or a worker in West Asia needing urgent clarification, the process will be straightforward. Dial the toll-free number. Speak to a trained representative. Receive guidance. Raise a grievance if required. All without worrying about international call charges.

Under the proposed framework, the selected telecommunications service provider will provision international toll-free number access across multiple countries worldwide.

Where feasible, a single international number will cover as many countries as possible. In locations where regulations or telecom limitations prevent the use of the same number, alternate toll-free numbers will be arranged.

The calls will originate from multiple countries and terminate within India at the Passport Seva Contact Centres. The entire cost of the calls will be borne by the Ministry of External Affairs. Under no circumstances will any charge be passed on to the caller. That commitment is central to the design of the service.

Behind the scenes, the system will be built for reliability and scale. The service provider will be required to ensure round-the-clock availability—24 hours a day, seven days a week, all year long. Passport emergencies do not follow office hours, and neither will this helpline.

The connectivity will be SIP-based, beginning with a minimum capacity of 40 concurrent calls, with the ability to scale up as demand grows. Redundancy mechanisms, disaster recovery systems, and failover processes will be built in to prevent service interruptions. Real-time monitoring dashboards and detailed Call Detail Records will enable oversight and performance tracking.

Compliance will also be critical. The service must adhere to all applicable telecom regulations in India, including guidelines issued by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India and the Department of Telecommunications, as well as regulations in the originating countries. The system must be secure, legally compliant, and operationally robust.

To identify the right partner, the ministry has issued a Request for Proposal inviting sealed bids from eligible telecommunications operators. The selected bidder will enter into a formal agreement with the ministry, governed by a master service agreement that outlines technical standards, service level commitments, and operational expectations.

At its core, this initiative is about something simple yet powerful—reassurance.

For Indians abroad, navigating bureaucratic systems across time zones can feel overwhelming. While embassies and consulates continue to provide vital on-ground support, many routine queries can be resolved through a responsive contact centre.

The international toll-free number will ensure that geography is no longer a barrier to that connection.

This also reflects the evolution of governance in India. The Passport Seva Programme has already digitised applications, appointments, and tracking systems. Adding a global toll-free helpline extends that digital backbone into the realm of voice support, blending technology with human interaction.

For the ministry, this is not merely a telecom procurement exercise. It is a step toward strengthening trust with the Indian diaspora. It signals that whether a citizen is in Delhi, Dubai, Durban, or Dublin, help is only a phone call away—and that call will not cost them anything.

A passport may be issued in India, but its importance travels the world. With this initiative, so will access to support.

This move is part of India’s broader journey into digital governance. Over the past decade, the government has steadily expanded e-governance initiatives under the National e-Governance Plan. Several high-impact services were identified as mission-mode projects, and passport reform became one of the most significant among them. The goal was clear: make passport services faster, more transparent, and more citizen-friendly.

Over the years, this structure has transformed passport delivery within India. Now the focus is expanding outward—towards Indians living overseas.

The Passport Seva Project was launched in June 2012 to modernise the way passports are processed and delivered. Today, passport services are managed through an extensive network that includes 37 Passport Offices, 92 Passport Seva Kendras, 452 Post Office Passport Seva Kendras, and more than 200 Indian Missions and Posts abroad.

The system operates in a public-private partnership model with Tata Consultancy Services, while the sovereign functions—verification, granting, and issuance of passports—remain firmly with the Ministry of External Affairs. The ownership of data and strategic control also stays with the government.

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