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There has been a spurt in the number of complaints against ‘unscrupulous' travel agents in Punjab after the first batch of 104 Indians, 33 of them from Punjab, were deported from the US on Feb 5.
The US govt's drive of deportations has also caused anxiety for families in Punjab who have been duped by travel agents.
Many who paid agents for overseas travel are still awaiting their departure, while others who emigrated illegally are now facing the threat of deportation.
Despite the reluctance to report due to the hope of a partial refund, families of victims of fraudulent travel agents are now increasingly coming forward to file complaints.
The Punjab NRI Sabha received 18 complaints over the last week, in sharp contrast to the usual number of just a couple in a month. Parvinder Kaur Banga, its president, told sources the complaints they were getting were from those who were still waiting to go abroad.
Banga added the issue of unregistered travel agents would also be taken up with NRIs affairs minister Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal at a meeting on Monday.
The majority of those deported from the US last week entered its territory using the ‘donkey route' only a few weeks before they were caught by the local authorities.
Even though the state govt earlier claimed that it prepared a list of rogue travel agents in the state, it was only after the deportation that the police started registering FIRs against them.
Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann also indicated in 2023 that the state govt would amend the Immigration Act as part of "zero tolerance" against travel agents who dupe youth. In Feb 2019, state govt claimed that 2,140 travel agents were booked in two years.
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