Ration shops could soon be your go-to for paying utility bills, apply for passport

It wouldn't be long before you would be able to pay your utility bills and collect your PAN or passport applications at your nearest ration shop.

For this, an MoU has been signed between the CSC e-Governance Services India (CSC) and the food ministry to let Fair price shops (FPS), also referred to as ration shops, have the option of serving as Common Service Centres.

For the ration dealers, this would be a source of additional income, while it enables the consumers to avail these services closer to home.


The CSC will tie up with state governments for signing bilateral MoUs for providing interested FPS dealers access to Digital Seva Portal (DSP) for delivery of CSC services.

The food ministry has, meanwhile, advised all states to probe the possibility of increasing income and business opportunities of Fair Price Shops by allowing them to deliver CSC services after due diligence.

Additionally, application of new cards, updating existing ones, Aadhar seeding requests, grievances, status checks of ration availability, etc. that are usually provided by the states and UTs could also be taken up through CSCs.

State governments have the discretion in the matter since they would ensure data safety, adherence to statutory provisions and other relevant guidelines, said the food ministry.