India has also been reeling under the severe effects of the catastrophic pandemic with over eight million citizens contracting the virus infection and over 121,000 left dead.
With the governments at both the Centre and states sparing no efforts to fight the lethal pandemic on a war footing, four lockdowns have been already imposed since March 2020 to prevent the rapid spread of the highly contagious Covid-19 novel virus, keeping the health and safety of citizens as paramount..
The various stages of lockdown imposed by the Centre also put stringent restrictions on travel of citizens within their own state and also inter-state travel. However, keeping in mind business interests, critical economic activities, personal emergencies; the Centre in consultation with the state governments has somewhat relaxed the norms over inter-state travel post the culmination of Lockdown 4 in case of an unavoidable emergency.
As per the Union Government and Supreme Court's advisory, the state governments are directed for effective online response over e-Passes applications and issue them to applicants on a case to case emergency basis beyond medical staff and emergency services.
Centralized Online System For Citizens Across 17 States To Access E-Pass / Online Pass For Inter-State Travel
The Union government has formulated an centralized online system for citizens across different states to get access to lockdown ePasses.
The centralized online platform has not just facilitated swifter access to the e-passes but also made the entire process of getting an online pass much more transparent and hassle free.
The central government has made it easier with the help of a single-point website that can further direct users to their state-wise e-pass websites.
If one were to go by the latest guidelines issued by the Home Ministry, the state governments can formulate local Covid-19 related guidelines and issue ePasses without any discrimination.
Many state governments have already adopted the new online application process to issue lockdown ePasses in areas under strict lockdown.
The state-wise lockdown e-Passes for movement or permission to travel can be applied through a central government website developed by the National Informatics Centre under the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY).
The government website https://serviceonline.gov.in/epass/ developed to apply for e-passes for movement during lockdown has been actively used by seventeen states to provide their subjects citizen centric e-services (inter-state travel) to the applicants.
So if you need to travel outside your state in case of an absolute emergency, here is how you can apply for online e-pass
- Any eligible individual/group can apply for the movement pass
- You need to visit the government website - http://serviceonline.gov.in/epass/ to apply for a e-pass
- Once you are onto the website, you will be able to find a drop-down menu which lists only 17 states, excluding some of the major states such as Delhi NCR, Chennai, Punjab and more. If your state is available, click on it.
- One needs to furnish some basic details for applying for e-pass in-order to justify your reason for travel:
The mandatory details required to be furnished are as follows -
- Applicant Details: Full Name, Date of Birth, Type of Applicant, Mobile No, Email
- Address of Applicant: House / Flat No, Locality, Police Station, City and State
- Pass Details: Vehicle Details, Number Of Persons Travelling, Travel Period, Purpose of Travel, Source Address, Destination Address
- Keeping the scanned copy of the requisite documents which need to be uploaded on the portal will make things easier to submit your application.
- Please mention an active mobile / cell number in the Applicant Details section as you will receive a verification alert via an OTP for the same.
- After successful submission of your application, an application reference number will get generated.
Please keep a note of it to track the application status. - The movement e-pass will contain your name, address, validity and a QR code.
- Keep a soft/hard copy of the e-pass while traveling and show it to the security personnel if asked.