KAMALIKA PIERIS

In 2012, the Department of Immigration and Emigration   had   asked  Mobitel   to establish and operate an online gateway for those wishing to apply for visas to Sri Lanka.  Mobitel   provided the  Electronic Travel Authorization (ETA)  system  for  the Department . This was  tried out on a trial basis  on 1 October 2011 and became fully operational on 1 January 2012. 

This functioned satisfactorily from  2012 to 2024.   There were no complaints.  Mobitel   provided  the service free of charge  while recovering part of its costs from advertising and  services to tourists.  

Mobitel wished to upgrade the   system in 2018 , as the system was receiving text inputs only   but the process was delayed due to   Covid . On December 14, 2020, Mobitel submitted a proposal  for an upgraded system  asking for a  payment of one  US Dollar per applicant.  This  upgrade was approved by Cabinet on August 24, 2021 and Mobitel  was informed by letter dated September 21, 2021.

 Mobitel claims that  this  first upgrade  resolved all the performance issues and cyber security aspects immediately to manage application volumes and to meet latest payment gateway requirements in order to ensure timely collection of applicable government revenues”.

The 1st part of the upgrade was carried out at the expense of SLT-Mobitel in anticipation  that  the  Department  would award the 2nd part of the update to them on the commercial terms proposed ,  said Mobitel.

On August 23, 2023   Mobitel submitted a final, comprehensive proposal, partnering with  Scicom. The  new system  included  user friendly features. It  helped national security by providing biometric verification features, risk assessment, third party approvals (SIS approval)  and links to Interpol and other wanted lists.

However, unknown to Mobitel, in June 2023  a consortium of three foreign  companies had submitted to the Ministry of Public Security an unsolicited proposal titled Comprehensive Proposal on E-Visa, Consular Services, Visa Services, Biometric Services and Tourism Promotion”.

The  Consortium consisted of Singapore-registered GBS Technology Services, UAE-registered IVS Global-FZCO and the Dubai-headquartered VFS VF Worldwide Holdings Ltd, three  business enterprises dealing with visas.  The first  two companies are middlemen,  with VFS Global as their technical partner, said analysts.

 GBS Technology Services,  is a global visa outsourcing company, with head office in Singapore. IVS Global-FZCO,  is a government-authorized Indian private company that collects personal, educational and commercial documents for attestation.  It is   owned by Blackstone together with Swiss-based Kuoni, Hugentobler Foundation and EQT.  VFS VF Worldwide Holdings  is  a technology  specialist catering to governments and their  diplomatic missions abroad. Outsourcing is their specialty. 

VFS has been operating in Sri Lanka since 2004, facilitating the visa application process for 23 governments including the UK, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and Schengen countries such as France, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Norway, Austria, Latvia, Hungary, Croatia, Malta, and Greece. VFS operates six visa centers  in Colombo and Jaffna .

Rajan Philips observed that ,in the 1980s  western governments  began to outsource some of their diplomatic functions, especially visa processing of  immigrants and  tourists . This caught on and to save costs,  many countries  used  the same company for visa services.

Consortiums were formed to  push this. Digital platforms  were created that would serve multiple countries as clients.  This made it possible to  take  in  more countries as clients at marginal costs but significant profits . Soliciting new clients with unsolicited proposals is a time-tested method of business expansion , concluded Philips.    

 The  Sri Lanka proposal  seems to have done a round of  Ministries before  hitting the jackpot.

The proposal  was initially received by the Ministry of Defence in March 2022.  Then ,in October 2022 VFS Global and GBS-IVS submitted a letter to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, by passing Sri Lanka Tourism Board  which is the designated authority for tourism promotion , proposing a marketing plan to boost tourist arrivals through their ownElectronic Travel Authorization (ETA) platform, at no cost to the Government of Sri Lanka.

 The Consortium  thereafter  sent an unsolicited project proposal to the Ministry of Public Security  in June 2023  offering to  provide  visa services, biometric services, and promotion of tourism in Sri Lanka. This was successful. Tiran Alles, Minister for Public Security  took note of the proposal.

 I looked at  the proposal , I then asked the Ministry Secretary to look at it,   Global’s proposal seemed viable,  said Alles. VFS had a robust presence worldwide. They are number one in the world. Almost every country  uses it. VFS Global has 3,300 centers in 151 countries.

When the media queried as to why  competitive tenders were not called , Alles said that calling for tenders was not necessary for this particular case. “There are proposals, and there is a way to study them. It’s an approach that’s commonly taken in Sri Lanka. Even if tenders were invited, who would compete with VFS?”

On 8 September 2023, the Minister submitted a Cabinet paper on the unsolicited proposal from VFS.  Cabinet entertained this unsolicited offer  and on November 11, 2023  appointed an Evaluation Committee to evaluate the proposal

 The Evaluation Committee included representatives from the Treasury and other officials . The  committee took three months to examine the proposal and  delivered  its report in December, 2023. The report was   favorable .  

 Within a week, a cabinet paper was prepared . On 4 December, the Minister presented a second proposal to the Cabinet, incorporating the committee’s report. Cabinet approval was granted on 11 December and the MoU with VFS was signed on 21 December 2023.

 Immigration Department entered into  an agreement with the Consortium on  December 21, 2023 to handle the on-arrival visa counter at the BIA ,for 12 years. The agreement was signed by  the Minister for Public Security, Tiran Alles,

The  contract with SLT-Mobitel  was   cancelled. On 16 April 2024, Mobitel was ordered to switch off the system at midnight. There was confusion within  SLT-Mobitel and the Immigration Department   at this news, said media. Mobitel wrote to Controller General of Immigration and Emigration  saying the company was perplexed” to receive a communication notifying it to stop the ETA site and its functions. Mobitel  said that under their agreement, the Department has no  power  to terminate the said contract, in whole or in part, at any time ,for its convenience”.  (continued)