Brokers active always

The atmosphere of the passport office in the capital's Agargaon was refreshingly different on the day of April 24, when Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina paid a visit there.

There were hardly any brokers inside or outside the Department of Immigration and Passports (DIP) building at that time. The office was less chaotic and the officials were found to be doing their jobs with utmost sincerity.

The absence of brokers and the flurry of activity of officials lasted just a day.

The next day, it was business as usual: brokers returned to fleece service seekers.

“Even before getting down from a rickshaw in front of the gate, some brokers rushed towards me and offered to provide different types of services. It seemed to me that these brokers are the real service providers at the passport office,” Shah Alam, who went there from Mohammadpur, told The Daily Star on April 20.

In the last two months after the prime minister's visit, this correspondent talked to at least a dozen people who kept complaining about the dominance of brokers. Thanks to the poor service quality of the DIP officials, the brokers get the chance to allure people to have their passports done in the quickest possible time in exchange for extra money.

A share of the money goes to Ansar personnel, who are deployed there for security, and the staff of the passport office, claimed brokers, wishing not to be named. In fact, the Ansar personnel who are supposed to drive the brokers away are patronising the brokers, alleged many who go there to seek passport-related services.

“It is difficult to get a job done here without the help of the brokers,” Afzal Hossain, a resident of Mirpur, told this newspaper last week.

“A broker asked me to pay Tk 9,000 for an urgent passport. He offered me delivery by two or three days with the assistance of some officials,” he said.

An applicant needs to pay Tk 3,450 for a general passport while it requires Tk 6,950 for an urgent passport. As per the DIP rules, an express or urgent passport should be delivered within seven working days and a normal passport in 21 working days.

Interestingly, there are some warning signs placed in the DIP building asking people to stay away from brokers. “Be aware of the syndicate of brokers and frauds! Don't make any deal with them,” read a sign.

Unfortunately, the DIP office has become a safe haven for brokers.

People who apply for general passports become the worst sufferers, as most of them do not get the passports delivered in time.

However, brokers can manage to get the job done within a very short time.

“It depends on how much you pay me for a general passport. If you pay a big amount, I'll hurry to get it done,” a broker, preferring anonymity, told this correspondent.

Brokers say they can make Tk 500 a day. “I get only Tk 500 to Tk 600 for a passport. The rest of the money goes to the pockets of some influential staff at the passport office,” one of them said.

Asked about the brokers' alleged influence at the passport office, DIP Director General Brig Gen Masud Rezwan expressed his helplessness.

He said they catch brokers and hand them over to mobile courts every week.