Indian passport services in UAE: Alhind explains delay in launch of consular centres

Abu Dhabi: Alhind Tours and Travels Private Ltd, the company that was supposed to launch new unified Indian Consular Application Centres on July 1, on Friday officially announced that rollout of the new Indian passport, visa and consular services across the UAE has been postponed temporarily.

In a press release issued on Friday, the company said the commencement of its Consular, Passport and Visa (CPV) services on behalf of the Embassy of India, Abu Dhabi, and the Consulate General of India, Dubai, originally scheduled for July 1, has been "deferred until further notice due to administrative reasons communicated by the Embassy of India, Abu Dhabi."

The company said it had received official communication from the Embassy advising that CPV services would begin "only upon further instructions from the Mission."

This comes days after the handover of the Indian passport and attestation services from previous operators BLS International and SGIVS Global Services was delayed by a legal battle in Delhi, as reported by Gulf News.

Alhind said it has completed all operational preparations, including setting up 16 CPV Application Centres across the UAE.

According to the statement, these new centres are located in Al Danah, Al Reem, Musaffah, Al Ain, Ghayathi, Madinat Zayed, Bur Dubai, Dubai Investment Park (DIP), Al Majaz, Rolla, Ajman, Fujairah, Umm Al Quwain, Khorfakkan, Kalba and Ras Al Khaimah.

It said it "remains fully prepared to commence services immediately upon receiving the necessary authorisation from the Embassy."

Alhind also later provided Gulf News with images and visuals of one of its centres, where employees were seen ready to manage multiple applicant service counters.

The photos and videos confirmed that the centres will be named Indian Consular Application Centres branded after Alhind Global Services LLC.

Alhind said it understood the "temporary postponement may cause inconvenience" and thanked applicants "for the patience and understanding."

It advised anyone needing consular, passport, visa, OCI, Police Clearance Certificate (PCC), Surrender Certificate, attestation or other related services during this period to contact or visit the Embassy of India, Abu Dhabi, or the Consulate General of India, Dubai, as applicable.

The postponement follows litigation before the Delhi High Court concerning the communication of the technical evaluation results for the tender, which was awarded to Alhind.

Two firms that lost out on the tender had challenged the results of the evaluation and the communication of their marks, and the Supreme Court ordered that the status quo be maintained till the Delhi High Court resolves the matter.

However, the matter remains unresolved with court hearing postponed again on July 1 and 2, effectively freezing Alhind's takeover.

With the old contracts held by BLS and SGIVS having expired on June 30, the Embassy in Abu Dhabi and the Consulate in Dubai have since July 2 been running limited passport, visa, attestation and other consular services directly from their own premises on a walk-in basis, describing the arrangement as temporary.

Alhind has asked potential applicants to keep checking the Embassy and Consulate websites for updates on when CPV services will begin.

Alhind said it "remains committed to providing efficient, transparent and customer-focused services and looks forward to commencing operations as soon as authorised by the Mission."

“We thank all applicants and stakeholders for their continued patience, understanding, and support,” it added.