Delhi High Court orders a fresh procurement process as applicants continue to await confirmation on passport, OCI, visa and consular services
The Delhi High Court has set aside the tender process conducted by India’s Ministry of External Affairs for outsourced Indian consular, passport and visa services in Australia, after finding that the technical evaluation of bidders lacked transparency, consistency and adequate reasoning.
The ruling relates to the Ministry’s procurement and evaluation process rather than any wrongdoing by VFS Global. However, because VFS Global had been selected through the affected tender process, the resulting contract award was also set aside.
The judgment, delivered on 15 July 2026, also affects similar tenders for Indian missions in the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Singapore.
A division bench comprising Justice Anil Kshetrapal and Justice Shail Jain directed the Ministry of External Affairs and the relevant Indian missions to issue fresh tenders within one month and complete the new procurement process as soon as possible.
The court also permitted incumbent service providers to continue temporarily until the fresh tender process is completed, with the aim of preventing further disruption and inconvenience to applicants.
However, the judgment does not announce a date for the resumption of suspended passport, OCI, visa and consular services in Australia.
Why was the tender challenged?
The case arose after two unsuccessful bidders, E Trav Tech Limited and Verasys Limited, challenged their elimination during the technical evaluation stage.
Both companies had failed to receive the minimum technical score required for their financial bids to be considered.
The court did not decide which company should have been awarded the contracts. Instead, it examined whether the evaluation process conducted by the Ministry of External Affairs and the relevant Indian missions met the legal standards of fairness, transparency and non-arbitrariness required in public procurement.
According to the judgment, bidders received numerical scores but were not provided with adequate reasons explaining why marks had been deducted.
The court found that some proposals received different scores across the four countries even though substantially similar credentials, documents and service arrangements had been submitted.
It also identified instances in which bidders appeared to satisfy measurable requirements relating to office space, service counters, appointment availability and processing times but did not receive the corresponding marks.
The judges concluded that the use of undisclosed assessment standards, unexplained deductions and the failure to record adequate reasons made the evaluation process difficult to scrutinise and legally unsustainable.
Australian tender also affected
For Australia, the tender covered Consular, Passport and Visa services administered through the High Commission of India in Canberra.
The proposed service network included application centres in:
- Sydney
- Melbourne
- Brisbane
- Canberra
- Adelaide
- Perth
VFS Global had emerged as the successful bidder following the technical and financial evaluation process.
The court did not make any finding of misconduct or wrongdoing against VFS Global. The contract award was affected because the underlying Ministry of External Affairs evaluation process was found to be legally unsustainable.
The court therefore set aside the technical evaluation and the resulting contract awards for Australia, the UAE, Kuwait and Singapore.
The ruling does not require the contracts to be awarded to either of the companies that challenged the tender. A completely fresh procurement process must now be conducted.
What does this mean for Indian Australians?
The court ruling is significant, but it does not mean that VFS Global’s suspended Indian services in Australia have automatically resumed.
VFS Global previously announced that Indian Consular, Passport and Visa services across Australia would be temporarily unavailable from 1 July 2026 until further notice. Its official Australian website continues to display the temporary-suspension notice.
The suspension has affected people requiring services such as:
- Indian passport renewals and reissues
- Overseas Citizen of India applications
- OCI miscellaneous services
- Police clearance certificates
- Renunciation and surrender certificates
- Entry visas and other paper visa categories
- Attestation and miscellaneous consular services
Although the court has permitted incumbent service providers to continue temporarily to avoid public inconvenience, it remains unclear how this interim arrangement will operate in Australia while applications remain officially suspended.
A separate announcement from VFS Global, the High Commission of India in Canberra or the relevant Indian consulates will still be required before applicants can assume that appointments, postal applications or in-person lodgements have restarted.
No confirmed reopening date
The judgment does not specify when Australian application centres must reopen or when new appointments must become available.
Applicants are therefore advised not to visit a VFS Global centre without first checking its official operational status.
Those facing urgent or compassionate circumstances should contact the Indian mission responsible for their state or territory directly for guidance.
Indian e-Visas are processed through a separate online system and may not be affected in the same way as services requiring an application-centre appointment.
What happens next?
The Ministry of External Affairs and the relevant Indian missions must issue fresh tenders for Australia, the UAE, Kuwait and Singapore within one month of the judgment.
The court has directed the authorities to complete the new procurement exercise as quickly as possible.
Until then, the future service-provider arrangements and the timing of any resumption of services in Australia remain uncertain.
Desi Australia will continue monitoring official announcements from VFS Global, the High Commission of India in Canberra and India’s consulates and will provide an update once a reopening date or alternative application arrangements are confirmed.
