If you have faced similar issues, please sign this petition to help bring about the necessary changes.

To: Honourable Minister Dr. Subrahmanyam Jaishankar

Title: Petition to Address Unfair Charges and Practices by IGCS Outsourced by the Indian Embassy in Frankfurt

Statement:

We, the undersigned, call upon the Honourable Minister Dr. Subrahmanyam Jaishankar to investigate and take immediate action against the unfair charges and practices imposed by the external company IGCS, which is outsourced by the Indian Embassy in Frankfurt, Germany. We urge the Ministry of External Affairs to ensure that Indian citizens and OCI applicants are not subjected to unnecessary financial burdens and that the services provided are efficient, transparent, and uniform across all Indian embassies in Germany.

Background Information:

The Indian Embassy in Frankfurt has outsourced certain services to an external company, IGCS. However, applicants are facing significant issues, including:

• Unjustified additional charges.
• Demands for extra payments due to alleged online system failures or the submission of unlisted documents.
• Increased service charges compared to other Indian embassies in Germany.
• Financial strain and delays in processing applications, causing considerable stress.

Example Cases:

1. An applicant faced problems during their son's OCI application because IGCS requested a document that was not clearly listed as required. They were fined for having to resubmit the document, leading to financial burden and about a month of additional delay in processing the application.
2. In Frankfurt, the cost for an OCI application is €285 (₹25,500), while other Indian embassies in Germany charge only €251 (₹22,500). This difference, plus additional fines imposed by IGCS, adds up to approximately ₹6,000 extra per application.
3. Another applicant uploaded all the required and provisioned documents through the online platform but was told by IGCS to pay a fine for uploading the documents that were already sent with the application. The online platform did not provide a way to upload these documents initially, causing unnecessary extra costs and delays.

Call to Action:

We respectfully request the Honourable Minister Dr. Subrahmanyam Jaishankar and the Ministry of External Affairs to:

• Investigate the practices and charges imposed by IGCS.
• Ensure fair and uniform treatment of applicants across all Indian embassies in Germany.
• Eliminate unnecessary financial burdens on applicants.
• Improve the efficiency and transparency of the services provided by the Indian Embassy in Frankfurt.
• Review frequently failed items by applicants and update the website accordingly to prevent fines for system failures, instead of allowing IGCS to impose additional charges on applicants.

Thank you for your attention to this matter.

Yours sincerely,