Recounting his woe, he said he had applied for the passport in July, under File Number A37960/99. His case was moved to the Regional Passport Office, which issued him a passport bearing the issuance date of October 1, 1999 and expiry date of September 30, 1999. Criticising the working of the passport office, he said such a lapse on their part was deplorable, specially since it brought to light the laxity in the working of even the higher authorities that failed to take notice of such a major error before signing the passport for issuance.

"I can't even think of going through the grind of getting the passport rectified or made all over again. Moreover, I don't have enough money to spend on commuting to and from Chandigarh for the purpose," he rued.

He said instead of calling it a "minor" mistake, the department should own responsibility and make up for the undue harassment caused due to this kind of inefficiency on their part.

Meanwhile, one of the travel agents, while talking to The Indian Express on condition of anonymity, said such type of discrepancies were a routine matter for passport applicants. He said the department will rectify the error without charging any special fee, but will expect the passport holder to bear the travel expenses.