Police clearence certificate- bangalore circa 2008

POLICE CLEARANCE CERTIFICATE AKA (PCC)

ok so how does one get a police clearance certificate in Bangalore, its quite simple actually... read on..

reaching there(at least there is a parking lot here, park for a fee..)

1. you go to the passport office situated next to the national games village in koramangala.
2. the office is quite visible against the stark landscape of ejipura and it does not resemble a government office at all, looks a like a stand alone software firm mostly.

What to do(try not going on a Monday or a Friday (heavy queue will make you lose your sanity))

1. write a formal covering letter stating the purpose for which you need a PCC (one of those arcane government rules:- better to follow than regret :) )

2. go very early in the morning(7ish) same day or on the previous day(before 1 o clock) to pick up the form as per the below details.

3. there is a small canteen located at your right hand corner when you enter from the main entrance, there are a couple of tables on which people sit and help other clueless people fill up the forms, the canteen aka tea shop is located right next to these tables.

4. go there and get the police clearence certificate form( there is only one form titled miscellaneous services)

5. fill the form up carefully according to the details in your passport, mention the country to which you are going to in the form on top, stick your photo etc

6. get your identity proof(passport) and your address proof (can be a BSNL telephone bill or in my case i took the address proof from a nationalized bank aka (SBM)) originals

take copies of the relavant pages in the case of the passport it will be the 1st, 2nd and the last pages respectively. take a copy of the page where your name and address is mentioned, remember that it should authenticate you as the person who stays at that address.

the soup

what to carry

• a bottle of water
• an umbrella
• a good thick novel to read or a paper or some other means of time pass.
  

1. there is a queue in the back side of the office in which people for tatkal, PCC, etc stand, if you have arrived early like i suggested then you should be within the first 15 or 20 people.

2. have all the xeroxes ready kept one after another in order

3. by this time (should be around 8ish in the morning) you will find a frustrated official coming and selecting certain people in the queue for elimination with a seal thinggy (these people are typically the clueless ones who are standing in your queue and wasting their time and yours) :P

4. now comes the wait, the office opens at 9.00 in the morning so you will have to wait until then (read the novel, drink water make small talk on the Indian government etc)

5. ok so its around 9.30 ish and you have reached the end of the queue, typically the same official will be sitting there and he will ask you whether you are the same person applying, answer yes, he might take a precursory look at your documents just to be sure.

6. he will paste a sticker which will give you a token number.go to the main entrance, now the cops will allow you inside.
   

the starter

1. Go to the counter number 10, you should see another small queue of humanity in front of you.
2. in case you are frustrated repeat step number 4 in soup till the queue reaches its end
3. the person there will reverify your documents, ask you where your passport is issued from etc.
   

the main course

1. now comes the 3rd waiting period, (hey i didn't invent the system i am just walking you through it, at least they give you proper chairs to sit through this one.)

2. the token numbers are called out one after the other, once your token number is called you go the corresponding counter and submit your document to the overworked and frustrated official there.

3. he will probably ask you a few questions, if you know Kannada well that helps, else speaking English is a nice alternative

4. if your documents are in order then everything is smooth else he will make you get the xeroxes from out side the complex, read step 7 of (what to do)

5. he will print out a receipt and retain your passport if that is the main document which you submitted on the previous day.

6. he will probably tell you to come between 3.30 and 5.30 the next day to pick your passport up.

the back door

now i will tell you the back door in to the system without paying bribes

• take a senior citizen along, there are no queue rules for senior citizens, they can jump to the head of the queue without standing, (rules are that they should have white hair and should generally look old, voters card helps along with some other age proof in case the counter man asks..)
• i also saw a lady with a small kid getting ahead of the queue although there might be no such rule so the senior citizen thing helps.

getting the PCC

1. now that you have weathered the fairly efficient bureaucracy go to the same building next day at the time mentioned by the officer.
2. you will be ushered into the 1st floor in front of counter number 10, they will keep announcing names one after the other, so go at the earliest possible time and get your PCC.

you are done, at least you had me telling you what to do, i found out these things by doing them.

cheers, (hic)

ashwin