Judicial intervention forces External Affairs Ministry to issue fresh tenders within a month for consular operations in the UAE, Kuwait, Singapore, and Australia.
NEW DELHI — July 15, 2026 — The Delhi High Court has cancelled the consular services outsourcing contract previously awarded to Alhind Tours and Travels for Indian diplomatic missions across multiple countries, including the United Arab Emirates. However, to mitigate major operational disruptions for non-resident Indians (NRIs), the court permitted the incumbent service provider, BLS International, to temporarily sustain visa and passport processing operations. The decision orders the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) to initiate a completely fresh tendering process within one month for operations in the UAE, Kuwait, Singapore, and Australia.
The high court’s landmark ruling follows legal petitions filed by two separate bidding companies that were disqualified during the technical evaluation phase of the original procurement process. The division bench determined that the evaluation authorities failed to disclose transparent criteria regarding the specific marking matrix used to assess the corporate participants. Citing a critical lack of administrative transparency in the evaluation framework, the court invalidated the selection of Alhind Tours and Travels.
To safeguard public interest and ensure continuity of essential citizen services, the court directed that BLS International remain the temporary service provider until a fresh, transparent procurement cycle is completed and a new contractor is formally onboarded.
The judicial intervention resolves an ongoing administrative logjam that began on July 1, 2026, when legal disputes blocked Alhind from assuming operational control. During this interim deadlock, the Indian Embassy in Abu Dhabi and the Consulate General of India in Dubai were forced to bypass third-party centers and process passport and visa applications directly at their own diplomatic facilities.
With the issuance of this formal court directive, standard submission workflows are expected to resume immediately through designated BLS International centers across the affected regions, offering vital logistical relief to thousands of Indian expatriates.
