Government to rationalise fee for Electronic Tourist Visa scheme

NEW DELHI: To attract even more tourists under the immensely successful Electronic Tourist Visa ( ETV) scheme that has seen nearly 900% jump in tourist figures, the home ministry has decided to lower visa fee for nationals of countries who offer the same service to India but at lesser fee.

“Yes, Visa fee for ETV has been rationalised,” a home ministry spokesperson confirmed to ET, saying an announcement on the details will be made soon. Over a dozen countries may benefit from the same, ET has learnt.

“The proposal came from the foreign ministry. India’s fee for ETV is $60 and the facility extends to 113 countries. But there are many countries who also offer ETV or Visa on Arrival to Indians but at a lesser fee — some offer it at $20,$35 or $40. The foreign ministry hence asked MHA to examine if ETV fee charged by India can be lowered for this set of countries on reciprocal basis.

The idea is to create different categories of visa fee — and have a lower fee than $60 for countries who offer ETV to India,” a ministry official said.