A legal dispute over the contract for Indian consular services in the United Arab Emirates is causing delays in the rollout of passport renewal and other related services, affecting many Indian expatriates in the region. The conflict involves two companies that were unsuccessful in the bidding process challenging the Indian government’s decision to award the contract to a new service provider.
The contract in question covers consular services not only in the UAE but also in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and Australia. Earlier this year, the Embassy of India in Abu Dhabi announced that it would replace BLS International Services, which had managed passport, visa, and consular processing for over a decade, with Alhind Tours & Travels. Alhind won the contract after a competitive bidding round conducted in November 2025, based on its offering the lowest financial bid among four shortlisted firms.
The transition to the new service provider was originally scheduled for July 1 but has faced postponements for “administrative reasons,” according to the Indian mission in the UAE. As a temporary measure, the Consulate General of India in Dubai and the Indian Embassy in Abu Dhabi began providing consular services in a limited capacity starting July 2.
The two companies that lost out on the bid have contested the tendering process in Indian courts, arguing that their disqualification at the technical evaluation stage was arbitrary and lacked transparency. One of these petitioners received a technical evaluation score of 67.5 percent, narrowly missing the 70 percent threshold required to qualify. The company contends that the scoring was inconsistent, highlighting specific instances where it believes it was unfairly marked down. For example, it received zero marks for turnaround time on application processing despite committing to completing tasks within 30 minutes—the exact requirement set by the tender. Under evaluation guidelines, zero marks would be appropriate only if the proposed time exceeded 30 minutes.
Additionally, the bidder claims it was given disproportionately low scores on criteria such as application facilitation services, grievance redressal mechanisms, and market reputation. It argues that detailed proposals were submitted for these areas but no explanations were provided for the low scores, rendering the evaluation process “opaque” and in violation of fairness and transparency principles.
The legal battle has proceeded through the Delhi High Court, which on June 5 deferred a ruling until July 13 while allowing the new provider to begin operations. However, the petitioners have taken the matter to the Supreme Court, asserting that permitting the transition before a full judicial review of the evaluation could cause “irreversible” damage.
Meanwhile, the Indian government continues to manage consular services directly through its diplomatic missions in the UAE on a provisional basis until the dispute is resolved and the new contract is fully implemented. The outcome of the pending court hearings will determine the final provider of these services in the region.