UAE | General

Indians furious over passport fee hikes

Almost 50 per cent hike in passport fee unfair, Indian expatriates say

By Binsal Abdul Kader, Staff Reporter
Published: 18:49 October 1, 2012

Image Credit: Abdul Rahman/Gulf News
M.K. Lokesh, Indian ambassador to UAE, after inaugurating the new office of Indian Passport Services, at Muroor street, Abu Dhabi, in this file photo

Abu Dhabi: Indian expatriates have expressed anguish over the hike in fees of Indian passports which came into force on Monday.

Some expatriate organisations said they are planning campaigns to demand a rollback of the increased fees.

They say the hike will hit ordinary workers hard — they constitute about 65 per cent of the Indian population in the UAE.

Shamseer Singh, a social worker said it was unfair to increase passport renewal fees by almost 50 per cent.

“Most of the workers are living far away from cities and they have to shell out huge amounts on taxis to reach the city for passport renewal. They can’t afford this much of an increase,” he said.

An Indian Embassy statement said the fee was revised as per a Government of India order.

Comments (16)

Added 16:42 October 2, 2012

Lets stop cribbing about price hike. Frankly, how many times in a day do you have to renew your passport? Cheers!

Prasad, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

Added 15:12 October 2, 2012

yes, increase is alright. but they should count every aspect for the no of years passed, due to customs at back home airports asking for customs duty of gold more than 1967 GO of Rs.10000 bracket. Let them check and advise, why Lokesh is not commenting about it?

Anonymous, abu dhabi, India

Added 14:18 October 2, 2012

It is almost 90% increase and not 50%

Jennifer, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Added 13:04 October 2, 2012

I had to add some pages on the passport and had to visit the center for over 4 times. Because, every time I go there, they ask for new documents. Why don't they have anything in writing, a template of all documents required. If they hike the prices up, let them justify that by serving to the requirements of the citizens here. Their service is very poor and needs to be refined. Waiting time is extremely high. Who is going to attend to these issues? Just by hiking the prices doesn't serve all purposes. Empost was a better option earlier. Excellent service. I know because my daughter's passport was handled by them.

Rajesh, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Added 12:07 October 2, 2012

Lokesh should educate and inform us expats why these much increase. It is his job as an ambassador to inform us properly!

kumar, dxb, India

Added 12:07 October 2, 2012

Our Indian Govt. is very prompt in increasing all kind of fees stating cost has increased over years. But when it comes to Custom Duty on gold or any other things carried by overseas passenger they still want to follow old rules of 1967. Why??? for this cost has not increased over years.

Anonymous, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Added 11:54 October 2, 2012

The hike is not at all reasonable. They could have increased atleast 25-50%. anyway, we have the relief that the validity is for 10 years comparing to our neighboring countries.

Devadas Nair, Abu dhabi, United Arab Emirates

Added 11:15 October 2, 2012

A reasonable increase is always acceptable, but passport renewal increase is 90% (from AED.150/- to AED.285/-).

Anonymous, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Added 11:14 October 2, 2012

I think we should get out of the entitlement attitude. This is not a major increase considering that the validity of a passport is for 10 years, and if you are a passport holder, you would certainly have made that kind of money in 10 years! We Indians are so used to complaining about everything. Let's get over this attitude.

Rajesh, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Added 10:53 October 2, 2012

I personally do not find any reason to oppose this hike of charges. Like how my co- reader stated, there are some organisations and people who always wanted to oppose. Maybe its because they wanted to take the name of credit by showing other people that they have raised their voice against injustice. There are many many other issues that a person can raise his voice, like the dirty games paid by our own airlines. The only quality I find in them is that they do not charge ticket for the dead bodies to be taken back to their home town. Five months back when my father expired in UAE, we never even planned in dreams of taking his body by Air India. We took the emirates flight, and we were very happy with their service. I dont find any injustice in the hike of charges. But of course, there are reasonable justifications. Labour costs, material costs, and many other indirect costs have increased. They are not the same as they were 10 years ago. A person renews his passport once in 10 years. Though he started having a passport from the time of his birth, by the time he reaches the age of 70, the maximum he would have paid for his passport renewal is 10 times. Of course, when its the renewal for the whole family, its more. But its an obvious fact that as the number of the family increases, expenses increase. I too fall in the category of low-income group.

Isabella, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates