Muscat, July 17 (ANI): The Indian Embassy in Oman has urged citizens of the sultanate to approach only authorised outsourcing agency, BLS International, for Indian visa services, in an attempt to curb the overcharging of fees for visas.
"It has been brought to the notice of the Embassy of India, Muscat, that some companies are providing visa or travel-related assistance to the applicants seeking Indian visa services by way of charging additional fee, over and above the fee prescribed by the embassy," the Gulf News quoted the Indian mission, as saying in a statement.
"BLS International is the only authorised outsourcing agency for passports, passport-related miscellaneous services as well as visa services for which Embassy of India has prescribed service provider fee of 70 baizas [Dh6.65] per passport/passport-related service and 3.050 Omani riyals per visa service," it added.
Srinivasa Babu, first secretary at the Indian Embassy, clarified that they charge only 20 Omani riyals for visas to India and in case of emergencies there was a provision for 'Tatkal' (Prompt) visa services.
"We charge extra 15 riyals for giving visas on urgent basis, especially during the public holidays," he said.
A prominent Omani blogger and businessman had claimed that he was surprised to hear about higher fees for the special service.
"I was told over the phone by a lady that, for 49 riyals, I could get visa done the same day by 7pm; for the next day delivery, the charges would be 35 riyals, and 20 for the normal process," he said.
However, the first secretary at the Indian Embassy stressed that there no extra charges to be paid and has advised those seeking Indian visas to approach only BLS International, or its mobile collection centres across Oman and pay only as per the fee schedule prescribed by the embassy. (ANI)
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