“We affirmed that the issuance of e-passports will proceed as usual without a time limit,” said a statement issued by the ministry.

Two years ago, the ministry signed a contract with an outsourcing company to issue passports, stipulating that the company would produce 7 million passports, after which the contract would end.

At present, 6.97 million have been issued, leaving only 30,000 more to be issued. On a typical day, 10,000 requests are received for the issuance or re-issuance of passports, which would have left only three more days.

The ministry had said the process to find a new firm through an e-bidding process could take a year to complete.

However, to solve the immediate problem, the ministry on Tuesday proposed that the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) invoke Article 44 of the interim charter to allow the ministry to extend the contract with the current company for one year. In the meantime, the e-bidding process to find a new outsourcing company will commence, Government Spokesman Lt-General Sansern Kaewkamnerd said on Tuesday.

The ministry could not renew or extend the contract through normal processes as the Office of the Attorney-General had deemed it illegal, the spokesman said.

However, the NCPO rejected the proposal, saying Article 44 could be criticised for being used too often, Sansern said.

The NCPO then ordered Deputy Prime Minister Wissanu Krea-ngam to meet with the Office of the Auditor-General and the Foreign Ministry to seek a solution, Sansern said.

Sansern added that if there was a dead end, the use of Article 44 could be considered.

The NCPO agreed in principle to allow the current firm to continue to issue e-passports, he said.