KAMALIKA PIERIS

The tourist industry protested  vehemently over  the VFS take over  at Katunayake. but the Ministry ignored the protests and allowed VFS to continue regardless. Then something happened  and the  issue went public .

 On 3 May 2024,   television news  showed  an enraged Sri Lankan at the Katunayake International Airport complaining loudly over denial of a visa for his    partner .He   strongly criticized the  foreign visa service. News channels   ran this  in their evening news.  see https://youtu.be/QYqD-0LJLzM  Newsfirst

The VFS deal came under fire after  the public saw this video. Public wanted to know why the ETA was outsourced to a foreign company when it had been handled by  Mobitel  for many years.

The Ministry reacted repressively. Action will be taken against the person who caused  the disturbance ,Public Security Minister Tiran Alles said calling a news conference . Steps will also be taken against the officers who recorded the incident.Accordingly,  Katunayake Airport Police  recorded  statements from the person and   the Immigration officials who  had  filmed  the incident.

But government responded  positively to the  massive public outcry.  Cabinet ordered the Department of Immigration and Emigration  to take over . They were ordered to assume full responsibility for issuing visas .

After May row, Lankan officers retake visa desk at BIA”, reported the media. Amidst a raging controversy over a foreign company issuing on-arrival visas at the Bandaranaike International Airport, calm was restored yesterday after the Immigration Department took over the process. Our pictures show immigration officers back at the visa-issuing desk and the closure of the desk operated by the foreign company,” said the media on May 19th.  

Immigration and Emigration Department t is now handling all documentation when it comes to issuing visas to tourists on arrival, while VFS is now only involved in the processing of electronic visas ,media reported.

The tourist industry  quickly moved in and  demanded that the  30-day single-entry visa to be brought back.  Cabinet  reinstated   the 30-day visa . The visa will cost US$ 50, with US$ 40 going to the government and the balance US$ 10 to VFS Global,

But the agreement with the Consortium was still in force  and Immigration Department stated that  VFS would return.  Immigration staff said  that they heard that the Ministry  was planning to hand  visa processing back to VFS soon.   In June 2024, Public Security Minister Tiran Alles said the government is still studying” the visa matter.

 Eight  public interest petitions were  made to Supreme Court .They  challenged the decision to award the contract  to VFS without following proper tender procedures. The petitioners said that the VFS deal was  done  outside  the procurement  policy of the government, the  deal caused a financial loss to Sri Lanka and negatively impacted the tourist trade  Industry officials in their petition to court said after the e-visa scheme was introduced, arrivals had dropped from targeted figures.

The petitioners  also filed fundamental rights cases against the Minister of Public Security and the government, alleging  that the visa deal was a scam .The Prime Minister ,  Cabinet ,  Consortium  and the Attorney General  were  made  respondents in these petitions.

 Three MPs, Patali Champika Ranawaka, M.A. Sumanthiran and Rauff Hakeem,  filed three separate petitions before Supreme Court  requesting the court to suspend the contract allowing VFS to issue on-arrival visas at the Bandaranaike International Airport . They  named Minister of Public Security, Tiran Alles and the government for allegedly ‘aiding and perpetrating a multibillion-dollar scam involving the  visa procedure’ introduced in April  2024   

Transparency International Sri Lanka (TISL)  also filed a case calling for the respondents to be held accountable for their illegal, arbitrary, and unreasonable acts  in the procurement process.The matter was filed in the public interest.

The TISL petition drew attention to  the improper and irregular selection of private entities as authorized representatives for issuing visas, entering into agreements with private parties in a manner that could lead to severe financial losses and damage to the tourism sector, and an incident at the country’s main airport in May 2024 that highlighted the problematic appointment of private entities for visa processing among others.

TISL pointed out that  the  partnership with Mobitel   ran smoothly from 2012 without  major breakdowns, negative publicity, data breaches or any  other complaints. Mobitel tendered proposals for the improvement of the ETA system in August 2023 with no cost to the government. They offered to provide the ETA platform services for USD 1 per application, in stark contrast to the  18.50  charged  by VFS.

On August 2, 2024  Supreme Court  Justices  P. Padman Surasena , Kumudini Wickremasinghe and Achala Wengappuli  heard the petitions.  The Court  then suspended the  cabinet  decision  that had  allowed   Immigration Department  to enter into an agreement with the  three-member foreign consortium to process online visas .  Cabinet was  also restrained from taking any further steps on the  agreement.   Supreme Court said the  suspension  would remain in effect until the petitions were fully resolved. Immigration Department was  directed to revert  to the    visa method  in use  on April 16 before the new VFS system came into operation. (CONTINUED)