The recent Government of India circular concerning Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) cards introduced several changes, including the introduction of digital e-OCI cards, making physical OCI booklets optional, and discontinuing the requirement for re-issuance of OCI cards upon the holder attaining 20 years of age. These changes have significantly streamlined and simplified the OCI process.

The recent amendments, however, have also introduced a new requirement whereby all OCI cardholders, irrespective of age, are required to update their passport particulars through the online OCI Miscellaneous Services whenever a new passport is issued. The update remains free of charge when completed within 90 days of the issuance of the new passport. However, where the update is made after 90 days, additional charges, including a late fee and service provider fee, are payable.

Unfortunately, this new requirement has, in effect, been applied retrospectively. Under the previous policy, OCI cardholders were required to update their passport particulars each time a new passport was issued until attaining 20 years of age, and once after attaining 50 years of age. Outside these circumstances, updating passport particulars was not mandatory.

This is also reflected in the Miscellaneous FAQs, Question No. 5, on the official OCI website, which continues to state the previous requirement. Consequently, OCI cardholders who had complied fully with the requirements applicable to them at the time, and who therefore had no obligation to update their passport particulars following subsequent passport renewals, are now being adversely affected by the retrospective application of the revised policy.

It would be inequitable to impose a late fee on such OCI cardholders for failing to undertake an action that was not mandatory under the policy in force at the time. These individuals had no reasonable basis to anticipate that a future change in policy would retrospectively render their previous compliance insufficient and subject them to a financial penalty.

In view of the above,  we respectfully request the Government of India to consider this matter sympathetically and take appropriate measures to ensure that OCI cardholders are not penalised retrospectively for non-compliance with a requirement that did not previously apply to them.

We further request that the late fee and service provider charges be temporarily suspended for OCI cardholders who were not previously required to update their passport particulars under the rules applicable at the time of their passport renewal. Please allow a grace period of six months to such OCI cardholders to update their passport particulars without incurring any late fee or additional service charges.