February 24, 2019:
Cities such as Gurgaon, Goa, Shillong, Nagpur, Bhubaneshwar, Lucknow & Mangalore have shown over 100 percent increase in the number of ‘doorstep’ applications, with the highest number being in Nagpur & Indore.
In the last year alone, the demand for doorstep delivery of visa services grew by 144 percent (average y-o-y growth), says VFS Global which provides ‘Visa at Your Doorstep Service’ that allows on-demand enrollment of bio-metrics & document submission at the doorstep of applicant, almost ending the need for physically visiting the visa application centers.
As per VFS Global, the service saw more than 100 percent y-o-y growth from tier-II cites. Besides, seeing an increase in applicants from India’s metros, the year 2018 also witnessed first time demand for doorstep visa services from the cities of Allahabad, Amravati, Trivandrum, Erode, Surat, Nagercoil, Varanasi, Gorakhpur, Tiruppur, Muzaffarpur, Indore, Palakkad, Guwahati, Jodhpur & Chattarpur.
And not surprisingly, the highest number of applications came from Nagpur, which was followed by Indore. In Shillong too, the doorstep visa application rose from merely two applications in 2017, to a humongous 150 in 2018.
And it is beyond the metros in the tier-II cities where there was a multifold increase in applications as they saw a significant rise in first-timers as well.
Trends around consumers wanting to seek comfort in their convenience, even at an additional cost, indicate the potential for growth of personalization & customization in even in government-to-citizen services.
“To say that the Visa At Your Doorstep service has revolutionised the visa application process may not be an understatement. While VFS Global has an extensive physical network of Visa Application Centres in 17 cities across India, this service exponentially increases the reach of visa services to every corner of the country. It is significant to note that there was high growth in doorstep application numbers even in cities where there are physical centres present'' says VFS.
Flexibility & superior customer experience are top priorities of customers in any sector, & the visa industry is no different.
''Applicants have appreciated the customised nature of the service, & the overall enhanced experience in submitting application, documents & enrolling biometrics, all from the comfort of their home or office.” says Vinay Malhotra, Regional Group COO – Middle East, South Asia & China, VFS Global.
So, it is no surprise that the smaller states such as Mizoram, Telangana & Chattisgarh, along with countries such as Bhutan & Sri Lanka, have also entered that demand circle. Corporates, large groups of travellers, film crews, celebrities, travel agencies & high-net worth individuals were among the majority of those who availed these services.
Source Link
