Stories
Bengaluru Residents Queue Up Overnight For A Passport That Cannot Be Used For Travel
- •Hundreds of residents in Bengaluru queued up overnight outside the General Post Office on Ambedkar Veedhi to secure a unique philately passport.
- •Introduced by the Karnataka Postal Circle, India Post released 3,000 booklets priced at Rs 600 each during National Postal Week.
- •Despite its name, the philately passport is a souvenir booklet for stamp collectors and cannot be used as an official travel document.
- •Travellers can carry the booklet to participating post offices to collect special postal cancellations and document their journeys.
- •The initiative aims to promote philately and offer a physical keepsake of visited places for both stamp enthusiasts and younger travellers.
Key Questions Answered
Despite its name, a philately passport is not an official travel document and cannot be used for international or domestic travel. Instead, it is a souvenir booklet designed for travellers and stamp collectors to gather special postal cancellations and markings from participating post offices across Karnataka.
The philately passport is priced at Rs 600 per piece and was sold on a first-come, first-served basis with physical tokens issued to visitors. Following a strong response in Bengaluru, India Post released 3,000 booklets and extended the sale to Mysuru, Mangaluru, and Belagavi.
No, there are no online sales for the philately passport. Interested buyers must acquire them physically during designated sales events, which have driven long overnight queues outside locations like the Bengaluru General Post Office.
