DHAKA: Shahidul Islam, a businessman, living in Jaleshwar Moholla of Savar, on outskirts of the capital, who has recently applied for a passport for his youngest daughter Farjana through online payment.

It was undone somehow though all the rest of family members have already grabbed their passports, according to him, and, it was August 10, deadline to get the passport.

But, yet he didn’t get the copy in spite of sufferings in every step from then on, Shahidul alleged to banglanews.

He said, “I have been going desk to desk from this (Savar) office to Dhaka or there (Agargaon) to Savar since last 11 days.”

At this time, however, he is realizing the online system of paying passport as a ‘curse’.

The government has recently launched online fee collection facility for Machine-Readable Passports (MRP) and Machine-Readable Visas (MRV).

Five private commercial banks -- Bank Asia, Dhaka Bank, One Bank, Premier Bank and Trust Bank – introduced the service about a month ago.

But, due to mismatching and other system losses along with the lack of bank staffs’ training, it is now creating sufferings for the people.

Not only Shahidul, but also Mahbubul Alam, librarian of Bir Shreshtha Noor Mohammad Rifles Public School & College of the city or Mumtaz, a housewife living in Lalbagh of old part of Dhaka and many others also complaint to banglanews about their sufferings in this system.

According to them, only for a few problems, the system is looking like a new dimension of sufferings.

Those, who have applied and paid through online for passports are facing sufferings as when they are going to the regional passport office in Dhaka after crossing the deadline of getting copies in hand, they come to know that the server is not showing any evidence of payment or there are problems of name mismatching (where names don’t match).

In this circumstance, they usually go to the bank, where they made the payment, but, the authorities say there that all are okay.

And, from then on, their sufferings start following going desk to desk of Passport office to bank and bank to passport office.

Munsi Sayeed Ikram, Director General of regional passport office told banglanews that still people are facing some problems following their unconsciousness, mismatching and other system losses.

Problems will be reduced if the banks completed their part carefully, he hoped.

BDST: 1432 HRS, AUG 22, 2014