Lapses by some missions led to loss of Rs 58.23 cr in OCI visa fees: PAC

New Delhi: A parliamentary panel has flagged “failure” of several Indian missions and posts abroad in extending the “revised rate of exchange” for local currencies as prescribed by the MEA for calculating visa fee in the Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) scheme, which led to revenue shortfall of Rs 58.23 crore during 2017-2020.

The Public Accounts Committee (2025-2026) has mentioned this in its report presented to Lok Sabha on Wednesday.

“The Committee also desire that accountability be fixed for such procedural lapses resulting in financial loss to the exchequer so to avoid its recurrence in future,” it says.

The report, titled, ‘Short collection of fees due to application of incorrect exchange rate in fixing the fees for Overseas Citizenship of India Card scheme and Irregularities in setting up of Indian Cultural Centres by Indian Missions at Washington and Paris’, is based on “Para. 2.1 and 2.2 of Comptroller and Auditor General of India (C&AG) report” of 2022 relating to the Ministry of External Affairs, it says.

The CAG report has highlighted “failure of the missions/posts in extending the revised rate of exchange (RoE) for local currencies” as prescribed by the MEA for calculating visa fee in the OCI scheme, and lack of monitoring by the ministry in ensuring compliance of its directions, the report says.

“This led to short levy of fees being charged by the missions/posts in issue of OCI cards leading to loss of Rs 58.23 crore,” it says.

The Public Accounts Committee, led by Congress MP K C Venugopal, says it selected the the subject for examination and took oral evidence of the representatives of the MEA on the subject under examination on December 12, 2024.

And, based on the oral evidence and written replies, the Committee examined the subject in detail during its term 2025-26.

“In Audit Para 2.1, the Committee note that the Ministry of External Affairs directed Missions and Posts to rationalise the visa fees structure based on the revised Rate of Exchange (RoE) for calculation of visa fees ipso facto applicable to the Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) scheme.

“Seventeen Missions in Euro Zone Countries and three Missions in the UK failed to comply with the revised RoE, resulting in non-compliance with the Ministry’s directives, the panel flags.

The Committee has noted that non-application of the revised RoE by the missions, led to “cumulative loss of Rs 16.26 crore revenue between April 1, 2017 and March 31, 2020”. Similarly, the Committee observe from audit findings that the High Commission of India in London deviated from the prescribed RoE, resulting in a “loss of revenue of Rs 41.97 crore between February 2017 and March 2020,” it adds.

The “inconsistent application of the RoE and the lack of clear, uniform instructions contributed to a cumulative revenue shortfall of Rs 58.23 crore,” the Public Accounts Committee said.