Such a pleasant surprise to see smooth operation at Passport Office

I had a very uplifting experience at the Passport Office Battaramulla on September 22 which I thought I should share. Even though in present times a passport does not serve a great purpose, I was nervous about hanging onto one about to expire and decided to follow the renewal process. A travel agent friend insisted that the process was simple but I had my reservations based on experiences of old.

I was surely in for a surprise. I entered the Passport Office building at 8 a.m. and was back in my vehicle by 8.30 a.m. with a new passport collection receipt in hand. Of course due to the present day clamp on overseas travel, the demand for new passports has obviously declined. However, the overall efficiency and level of customer service demonstrated by the Passport Office team right through the process was commendable.

A fully automated tracking system takes the customer through a seamless process even though you have to present yourself at about three counters. I am a strong believer that the technology and the processes linked to good working conditions stimulate and facilitate higher productivity and enhance customer service as well. The Passport issue operation is absolute proof of this theory. The only point at which I experienced any kind of negativity was at the token issue counter, when I overheard the staffer talking down to a customer. If not for this incident you were directed and helped all the way. Maybe management should improve on attitudes of the custodian of the tokens, especially when helping simple folk who are not so conversant with such procedures.

Perhaps the present lesser work load helps overall, but to see this level of efficiency at a government department gives us Sri Lankans a breath of fresh air. The icing on the cake was when I returned to my home in Kotte and was pleasantly surprised to receive a call from the Passport Office at 10 a.m. to say that my new passport was ready for collection. As a person with wide training and experience in the art of delivering high global customer service standards in my working life, I was truly impressed. The Controller, his senior staffers and the front line staff at the Passport Office ought to be very proud of what they do, and must keep striving for improvement. I can only say ‘well done!’ to the team.

I hope people who matter in the Government machinery including our Executive President Gotabaya Rajapaksa are privy to this letter, and that all government departments are encouraged to emulate the high standards maintained by the Passport Office. The other hidden benefit is that when the organisation machinery runs this smoothly there is hardly any room or need for malpractices such as petty bribes etc. We Sri Lankans are normally inclined more to complain and find fault than encourage good practice and I hope my good experience becomes the norm and not the exception. Hope all other government departments take a cue from the Passport Office team.

The only negative aspect of the entire exercise was the traffic snarl in the Battaramulla area. It took me about the time taken to get a new passport application processed, to travel back about two kilometres to Kotte!