2 witnesses are necessary for registered rental agreement 

your passport application can be put on hold 

Take one more witness to the Passport Office and arrange to retrieve your passport application and get this witness to sign on the spot and thereafter submit the passport application afresh.

You will be asked to visit PSK with original rent agreement on specific  day and time. You can carry out correction/replace documents and get your application processed.

According to the Ministry of External Affairs, the registered rent agreement executed in favour of the tenant by the landlord can be accepted as a valid document for the proof of address at the time of submission of passport application. However, the rent agreement must be registered under Section 17 of the Registration Act, 1908. The Ministry does not specify the number of witnesses required for the rent agreement, but it is advisable to have at least two witnesses as per the general practice.

It is possible that your passport application was put on hold due to one less sign of witness in the rent agreement, if the Passport Issuing Authority (PIA) found it insufficient or invalid. The PIA has the discretion to accept or reject any document as proof of address. It is also possible that there was a mistake or oversight at counter A and token counter, where they did not check your rent agreement properly. The acknowledgement letter may not have any remark because it is a generic document that does not reflect the status of your application.

To resolve this issue, you may have to contact the PIA and provide them with a valid rent agreement with two witnesses, or any other document that can prove your address, such as Aadhaar card, voter ID card, bank statement, etc. You may also have to submit a fresh passport application form with the correct documents.

There are different procedure for each counter. First counter will check for only document needed which are attached or not. Second counter may check details of each signature and soon on counter with police verification. that's why in Passport office there are 4-5 counter.

Kindly submit the rent agreement with both witness signature.

- As per the Circular of the Ministry of External Affairs , the registered rent agreement duly registered under Section 17 of the Registration Act, 1908 and executed in favour of the tenant by the landlord, may be accepted as a valid document for the proof of address at the time gf submission of passport application.

- Further , the owner and the tenant should sign the rent agreement in the presence of two witnesses at the sub-registrar office. 

-  If the rent agreement is dully registered from the Sub-Registrar , it means that this document is accepted by the Registrar for its registration , and hence it is a valid document

- You can take a No Objection Letter from the Landlord and submit the same before the passport authority. 

The rules for issuance of passport has to be complied scrupulously and properly.

Therefore what is the problem for obtaining the signature of another witness  in the rental agreement now?

If there is a column for two witnesses, keeping one witness column blank would certainly be considered as an improper document, hence you may obtain the signature of another witness immediately 

Dear client,  

In some cases, the absence of a witness's signature on a rent agreement could lead to an application being placed on hold, especially if that is a requirement according to the rules and regulations of the passport issuing authority.

It's possible that there was an oversight or inconsistency in the process you went through at different counters. To address this issue, you should consider taking the following steps:

Contact Passport Office: Reach out to the passport office where you submitted your application. Inquire about the specific reason for putting your application on hold and seek clarification on the discrepancy between counter A and counter B.

Correct the Issue: If the missing witness signature is the problem, you may need to amend your rent agreement to include the required witness and then resubmit the application. Make sure to follow the guidelines provided by the passport office.

Review Acknowledgment Letter: Review the acknowledgment letter you received from the passport office carefully to ensure that all the submitted documents are in order. If there's no remark on the letter, it's possible that the issue was identified later in the process.

Seek Assistance: If you encounter difficulties resolving the issue, consider seeking assistance from the passport office's customer service or support team. They may be able to provide guidance on how to proceed.

It's essential to follow the specific instructions and requirements of your country's passport office to ensure the smooth processing of your passport renewal application. If you believe there was an error or inconsistency in the handling of your application, addressing it through official channels is the best approach.

The rent agreement should be registered and proper signature of 2 witnesses is compulsory