India, May 19 -- India has joined a new phase in international document safety and security by launching biometric e-passports in selected cities.

The initiative was launched as part of the Passport Seva Programme 2.0.

An ePassport is a combined paper and electronic passport with a Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) Chip and an antenna embedded as an inlay of passport that contains the personal particulars and biometric information of the passport holder.

"The ePassport will be visually identifiable as small additional gold colour symbol printed below the front cover of the passport," reads the Passport Seva website.

As per the Passport Seva website, the major benefit of the ePassport comes with an enhanced ability to maintain the ...