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Courier firm to deliver Pak passports at home

This is TCS' third joint venture of its kind with the consulate. Addressing a Press briefing at the consulate on Monday, Pakistani Consul-General, Amanullah Larik said that two agreements had already been signed with TCS in the past which included delivery of passports and Nicop cards at the residences of applicants.

"This agreement will allow TCS to open a counter at the consulate premises where applicants from Dubai and the Northern Emirates can submit documents that need to be processed, which will later be delivered to the residences of the applicants as soon as they are ready," said Mr Larik. "We have taken this initiative because there have been no complaints regarding the working of TCS from applicants in the past," he added.

Explaining the concept, Shariq Mahmood, General Manager of TCS said that for example, passports given for renewal at the counter would be delivered to the residence of the applicant the very next day. "All the applicant has to do is to fill a delivery request form in which he/she will write the delivery address and pay Dh 10 for delivery in Dubai and Sharjah, and Dh 15 for delivery of the documents any place else in the Northern Emirates" he said, adding that a TCS staff member had been assigned to the counter.

Mr Shariq also said that an airway bill would be given to the applicant at the spot for confirmation and future reference. "We have also developed a system in which a courier will leave a tag - bearing a reference number - at the applicants place of delivery in case the applicant is not available," he said. "Through this, the applicant can contact the TCS office quoting his reference number and readjust the time for delivery of the document," added Mr Mahmood.

Mr Mahmood attributed the earlier failed passport delivery scheme to the high fee of delivery. He also brushed aside rumours that the company was asking applicants to pick up passports from the office. "We call customers only when we are not sure of their addresses," he clarified, adding that we prefer to deliver door-to-door because we are a courier company.

Nadeem Khan, Head of Chancery at the consulate said that nearly 9,000 Nicop cards have already been provided to TCS, out of which 6,000 have already been delivered by the company.

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