'No rollback' in passport fee hike for Indians in UAE
Abu Dhabi, Nov 29 (ANI)
Minister of Overseas Affairs Vayalar Ravi has said he has taken up the complaints from Indian living in the UAE about the exorbitant hike in the passport renewal fee with the Indian Ministry of External Affairs, but no positive feedback has been received yet.
"I received complaints from many expatriate individuals and organisations and conveyed the matter to the External Affairs Ministry but no positive feedback was received so far," he said.
According to Gulf News, Ravi said he was aware of the fact the hike in passport renewal fee affected blue- collar workers.
Low-income workers constitute 65 per cent of about 2 million Indians in the UAE.
There are many workers who earn below Dh1,000 a month and an increased passport renewal fee of Dh285 takes away a huge chunk of their monthly income, the report said.
According to the report, the ordinary passport renewal fee was increased by about 90 per cent, from Dh150 to Dh285, with effect from October 1.
The fee for the Tatkal category (emergency passports) was revised to Dh855 from Dh700.