Harsha Ilukpitiya, the Controller General, stated this move aims to reduce congestion at the DIE head office by requiring online appointment scheduling.

Sri Lankans applying for new passports must now pre-register online, and this system has been extended to applicants outside Colombo, he added.

The new appointment system has reduced the daily issuance of machine-readable passports (MRPs) from 3,000 to 800, potentially resulting in a revenue loss of Rs.4 billion over the next five months due to the drop in passport issuance by 2,200 per month.

The transition to e-passports, necessitating an IT infrastructure overhaul, is expected to take at least 18 months from the contract date, raising concerns about a potential passport shortage, a Public Security Ministry official said.