Delhi High Court Orders Fresh Tender for Indian Visa and Passport Services Abroad

The Delhi High Court has set aside the tender process through which VFS Global was selected to provide outsourced Indian Consular, Passport and Visa services in Australia, the UAE, Kuwait and Singapore. The court found that the technical evaluation process lacked transparency and did not meet the required standards of fairness in public procurement.

The ruling was delivered by a division bench of Justice Anil Kshetrapal and Justice Shail Jain. The court directed the Ministry of External Affairs and the concerned Indian missions to issue a fresh request for proposal within one month. However, to avoid disruption for applicants, the court allowed the existing service provider to continue operations until the new tender process is completed.

The case was filed by E Trav Tech Limited and Verasys Limited, two bidders that were disqualified during the technical evaluation stage after failing to meet the minimum qualifying score. Their financial bids were not opened. According to court records, one of the rejected bidders had quoted a significantly lower service fee for the Australia contract than the successful bidder, but the court clarified that this did not automatically entitle the company to receive the contract.

The court’s concern was mainly with the evaluation process. It observed that bidders were marked using standards that had not been clearly disclosed, while deductions were made without adequate recorded reasons. In some cases, similar proposals submitted for different countries received different scores, raising questions about consistency.

For travellers, NRIs and applicants abroad, the judgment is significant because outsourced consular services play a key role in passport renewals, visa applications, OCI services and other documentation. In Australia, services had already faced disruption from July 1, creating uncertainty for applicants needing urgent paperwork.

The order now places responsibility on the government and Indian missions to complete a fresh and transparent tender process quickly. While current operations may continue for now, applicants have been advised to follow official updates before visiting service centres or making travel-related plans.