| The 'I-Visa' initiative has initially been launched in Chennai as a pilot programme. A nationwide launch is on the cards. |
| The development has left the travel agents community seething. |
| A senior member of the Travel Agents' Association of India (TAAI) "" the apex body of travel agents across the country"" said: "The introduction of I-Visa and the demand for bank guarantee of Rs 3.5 lakh from each agent in Chennai has come as a rude shock." |
| "Through this system, the Malaysian High Commission has passed the onus of judging the bona fides of travellers and their documents on travel agents. Travel agents are now not only taking the workload of a consul, but are also compelled to invest money," he added. |
| The idea was to offer a facility to the travel agents to lodge visa applications online and get e-visas against a bank guarantee. |
| Sources close to the development said that the move has also been initiated to curtail overstay by Indians in Malaysia when they are on a holiday trip. |
| With such a stringent measures in place, agents representing the travellers will ensure that they do not overstay failing which the agent's bank guarantee may be revoked. |
| While a majority of visa applications to countries such as the US and Europe are directly handled by the traveller, over 90 per cent of the visa applications for countries such as Malaysia are made through travel agents. |
| TAAI members generate 85 per cent of the business and tourism traffic to Malaysia. |
| In the recent past, the Office of the Assistant High Commissioner for Malaysia had introduced a fool-proof system through which they had nominated IATA agents who are also TAAI members for handling Malaysian visa applications. |
| Malaysian tourism authorities in the recent past had said that the system of 'visa on arrival' for the Indian tourists would be introduced to promote Indian traffic to Malaysia. |
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