Thaindian News

Dubai, Apr 22 (ANI): Indians working here are fed up due to continuous chaos at the Indian passport and visa service centre in Bur Dubai and elsewhere in the Gulf country.

The Dubai police were called in at least five times to the centre after angry applicants had verbal altercations with staff.

The applicants include not only Indians who applied for renewal of passports and other services, but also citizens of other countries who applied for Indian visas.

Over the past ten days, Dubai police were called in at least five times to the centre as teething problems continue at the recently established centre, the Gulf News reports.

Angry customers alerted the police after response from the staff led many customers to believe that their passports were lost.

The incidents happened at the service centre, run by BLS International, at Al Khaleej centre.

BLS officials confirmed that no passports were lost, but acknowledged that there were delays in returning the passports causing some residents to miss their flights.

The Indian diplomatic missions in the country outsourced the management of the Indian Passport and Visa Service Centres, which had been under Empost since 2009, to BLS.

“It was a nightmare to get my passport back. For few days I thought it was lost,” said Anna Sullica, a British national, who had submitted her passport to apply for a visa.

Amritraj Gupta, who submitted his passport for renewal on April 7, said: “There seems to be no trace of my passport. It has been a daily ritual to visit the centre to enquire about it. I have lost patience, since no one seems to co-operate and answer questions with clear specifics.”

Their call centre (04 3594000) has stopped answering calls, and their online tracking system is also non-operational, Gupta said. (ANI)