Consumer Redressal

Dear Sir, A PCC document of mybrother Ajnas Mohamed was givento Urogulf, Vadanappilly branch for attestation in the 2nd week of August, 2012. The term of agreementwas that the procedure would take 20 working days and the charges for the same wasfixed as Rs 4,500/. Attestations required were Ministry of External Affairs andKuwait Embassy (candidate works in Kuwait). We were constantly intouch with the concerned branch to learn about the status. MEA attestation wascompleted on 21st August. We were expecting theattested PCC last week - which they had promised will not cross more than that. Last week, on 18thSeptember, they called our mother residing in Valapad and demanded anadditional Rs 5,000 to do the same; provided they sent the document toUrogulf-Kuwait branch by 24th September. On the next dayafternoon, my brother nodded to pay it. On 20th Sep, by the time we called them toinform that we did not want to pay anything extra, let it take its normalcourse of time, they said, attestation was completed and the document transferredto Kuwait; which means not even a complete day was required to get it done. (Infact, the attestation had been already been done on 19th Sep, before any communication was made witheither parties. Scanned copy of the PCC can be sent to you if needed). To conclude, theycollected an exorbitant charges of Rs 9,500/- to do the entire PCC attestation. Though they promisedwithin 20 working days, it had already crossed a month. We had not asked themto the attestation on an emergency basis. They claim that since KuwaitEmbassy accepts only one passport per day, they have to present some key moneyto get the job done. They also indicated that charges would differ to theapplicants based on their urgency. Here, in our case, there was no urgency, as itis evidently proving, it took more than a month, for the entire process. A colleague of mine,from Hyderabad, got his brother\'s PCC done in less than 15 working days, for Rs2,500 (Another agency also offered thesame period for the process). Even Urogulf-Kuwait claims, they do the PCCattestation in 15 working days’ time. They too do the legalization throughKuwait Embassy in Delhi. So arises the question how could they do it, in theirstipulated time, without over-charging. Our complaints havebeen shared with Urogulf office in Vatanappally (with Ms. Nannu and with Ms.Chinchu) in this regard. Ms.Chinchu has admitted the mistake committed by thebranch. She was of the stand that the branch should have addressed the issue ingetting Kuwait Embassy attestation done earlier on without wasting candidate’svaluable time. She said after Eid, Kuwait embassy attestations are slow andrequires key money. Eid was on Aug 19th. It was informed to us aboutthis situation only on Sep 18th. And when on 19th, it was accepted, it wasdone on the same day. That was an amazing performance! Owing to the failureto deliver the pcc within the promised time, Ajnas Mohamed has incurred immenseloss since he was on visit visa and could not make a transfer of his visa froma prospective employer. This wastage of timedue to improper guidance by the branch has led us not only to pay extra chargesto Urogulf, but he has to exit the country, get a visa again, and by this time hispcc which is only valid for one month gets expired. We clearly believethat the applicant was deceived, exploiting his helplessness, being out of thecountry as an expatriate and unable to reach out. Under the circumstances, wehumbly request Urogulf to do justice by reimbursing the difference in the charges. We are sure, yourgood-self will give utmost importance to this case. Lest we will have no optionbut to lodge petitions with the concerned legal authorities, including Kerala State Consumer Disputes Redressel Commission and Norka cell. With kind regards Subeana Shabeer Kuwait Airways Mob No. 965 55254537 email:haisubi@gmail.com