New twist in VFS Global visa saga, officials dodge COPF summons

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By Editor_1

COLOMBO – In a new twist to the controversial VFS Global visa deal which has shaken the country’s tourism sector, immigration and security ministry officials have dodged summons by the Committee of Public Finance (COPF), Sri Lanka’s Parliament said in a statement.

The COPF expressed deep displeasure after officials of the Department of Immigration and Emigration and the Ministry of Public Security failed to turn up at a meeting, the statement said.

COPF Chief Harsha de Silva making a statement in Parliament said officers of the ministry and department, after agreeing to a meeting with COPF, had late on Monday (13) excused themselves from the meeting, disrespecting the parliamentary committee.

Reportedly, officials had said they were not able to attend the meeting due to some of the files being missing from a move in 2016.

“This is a violation of the privileges of the parliament,” de Silva said, deeming the action “unacceptable”.

He said sometimes people get sick and cannot come, but in this instance, not a single person had come to the meeting.

IVS-GBS and VFS Global were contracted to issue online visas to tourists, leading to visa charges that were initially 51 dollar visa going up to 100.77 dollars, which included an 18.50 dollar fee and another 7 dollar hidden fee as well as a hike in the underlying fee to 75 dollars.

The firm stood to make 841 million dollars over the next 12-year contract period based on the original fees, according to projections revealed in Parliament.

The contract had been awarded without a tender.

The VFS Global deal hit the country just as the country was committed to reducing corruption under the International Monetary Fund reform program, opposition legislators pointed out.

High costs and the user-unfriendly website led to protests from the tourism sector with widespread allegations that VFS Global was collecting a lot of information from tourists including their social media handles.

A 50-dollar visa was then promised with opposition legislators alleging that VFS Global was now collecting 10 dollars leading to a loss of revenue to the government, which is taxing its citizens heavily.

However, the website remains complex and difficult to use, unlike an earlier website operated by state-run Mobitel for the immigration department for one dollar each.

The firm is also collecting fees from ‘free’ visas approved by the cabinet of ministers.

The firm is still collecting 18.50 dollars and more fees from other visas according to its website.

Mobitel which developed the previous user-friendly website charged 1 dollar,  had turned up for the COPF meeting.

-economynext.com/ENCL

 

Editor_1
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