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GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
MINISTRY OF EXTERNAL AFFAIRS
LOK SABHA
UNSTARRED QUESTION NO-2190
ANSWERED ON-31/07/2026
REGULATION OF OVERSEAS RECRUITMENT AGENTS
2190. SHRI AZAD KIRTI JHA
Will the Minister of EXTERNAL AFFAIRS be pleased to state:-
(a) the number of complaints received against illegal or unregistered
recruiting agents during the last five years, State-wise and destination-
country-wise;
(b) the number of such complaints involving fraud, passport retention, non-
payment of wages, contract substitution, forced labour, cyber-scam
operations or abandonment abroad;
(c) the number of illegal recruiting agents identified, blacklisted,
prosecuted or convicted, State-wise and year-wise;
(d) the number of websites, social-media pages, phone numbers, bank
accounts or payment handles linked to such illegal recruitment that were
blocked, frozen or referred to law-enforcement agencies; and
1(e) whether the Government proposes to integrate e-Migrate, State police
databases, immigration counters and Indian Missions abroad to track
repeat offenders in overseas recruitment fraud, if so, the details thereof?
ANSWER
THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF EXTERNAL AFFAIRS
(SHRI KIRTI VARDHAN SINGH)
(a to e) Recruitment Agencies (RA) in India established for engaging in the
recruitment business for overseas employment are regulated as per the
provisions under The Emigration Act, 1983 and Rules thereunder. As per
Section 10 of the Emigration Act, 1983, no person or agency can function
as RA without a valid Registration Certificate (RC) issued by the
Registering Authority, i.e., Protector General of Emigrants (PGE).
Mandatory registration of RA is aimed at curbing fraud and exploitation of
prospective Indian emigrants seeking overseas employment.
The RC holders are required to comply with the provisions under the
Emigration Act, 1983, and the terms and conditions of Registration
Certificate prescribed in Section 10 of The Emigration Rules, 1983, which
are focussed on safeguarding the interests of emigrant workers. The
Emigration Act, 1983 and Rules thereunder also provide for punitive
2actions against the registered RAs for violation of the provisions
thereunder.
Issuance of RC is done through eMigrate Portal (https://emigrate.gov.in)
only, which is maintained by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA). List of
all the registered RAs in India is publicly available on the eMigrate portal.
List of unregistered agents against whom complaints were received, has
been published on the eMigrate portal to caution the prospective
emigrants. As on date a total of 3,505 such unregistered agents have been
notified on the eMigrate portal.
As and when complaints of illegal recruitment activities by unauthorized
agents are received in the MEA, they are referred to the State/UT police
for investigation and prosecution under the relevant provisions of the
Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and other legislations in place. Data of
complaints of illegal recruitment activities received from the States/UTs,
and action taken against them during the last five years are given in
Annexure-I. Data of complaints against unauthorized agent registered on
eMigrate portal is given in Annexure-II.
3Based on available information, the number of complaints received by the
Indian Missions/Posts abroad from the emigrant workers including fraud,
passport retention, non-payment of wages, contract substitution, forced
labour, cyber-scam operations, abandonment, etc. and resolved are
attached at Annexure-III.
MEA takes necessary actions against illegal recruitment activities
conducted through a website, social media handles, and other such means
including by asking the service provider to take down such posts. It also
refers the matter to the law enforcement agencies for further necessary
action as per relevant provisions under the Emigration Act, 1983, and
Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), 2023. A total of 208 such cases were
referred to concerned internet intermediaries for taking down such posts,
out of which, 202 posts were removed.
The eMigrate portal is integrated with the system of Bureau of
Immigration (BOI) to facilitate clearance of the emigrant workers holding
ECR passports travelling to ECR countries for employment.
4ANNEXURE I
Data regarding complaints of illegal recruitment activities and follow up action [2021 – 2025]
Sl. State/UT Number of Complaints ATR Submitted by Number of Cases in Number of Prosecution
No. State Police which request for issue Sanctions issued
of prosecution
sanction after
investigation received
202 202 202 202 202 202 202 202 202 202 202 202 202 202 202 202 202 202 202 202
1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5
Andaman 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
1. and Nicobar
Islands
Andhra 111 688 445 602 448 0 0 5 11 19 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0
2.
Pradesh 1
Arunachal 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
3.
Pradesh
4. Assam 0 2 2 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
10 2 6 5 1 4 0 1(FI 1(FI 1(FI 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
(FIR R R R
5. Bihar regi regi regi regi
ster ster ster ster
ed ed) ed) ed)
50 0 3 9 80 0 0 0 0 34 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
(3
6. Chandigarh
FIRs
)
7. Chhattisgarh 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Dadra & 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Nagar Haveli
8.
and Daman
& Diu
1 1 4 92 153 0 0 0 0 17 0 0 0 11 13 0 0 0 11 13
ATR
9. Delhi
17
FIR
10. Goa 3 14 5 1 13 0 5 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
11. Gujarat 2 2 2 9 12 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1
0 1 4 2 33 0 0 0 0 09 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 0
ATR
0
FIR
12. Haryana
+ 5
ATR
+1
FIR)
Himachal 0 3 4 0 2 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
13.
Pradesh
14. Jammu & 0 1 1 0 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0
6Kashmir
15. Jharkhand 0 0 0 0 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
16. Karnataka 7 21 32 33 61 0 4 6 8 0 0 1 3 0 1 0 1 3 0 1
65 69 110 277 238 54 47 87 197( 158 2 7 7 15 0 2 7 7 1 14
(FIR (FIR (FIR FIRs
s s s Regi
17. Kerala
RegiRegiRegi ster
ster ster ster ed)
ed) ed) ed)
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
18. Ladakh
Lakshadwee 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
19.
p
Madhya 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
20.
Pradesh
21. Maharashtra 22 8 6 14 22 0 2 1 1 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 0
22. Manipur 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
23. Meghalaya 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
0 0 2 0 4 0 0 1 0 3 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1
FIR
24. Mizoram Regi
ster
ed
25. Nagaland 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
26. Odisha 0 0 0 5 7 0 0 0 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
7(FIR (FIR
RegiRegi
ster ster
ed) ed)
27. Puducherry 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
2 23 56 18 80 0 0 0 38(F 69 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
IR
28. Punjab Regi
ster
ed)
91 64 35 87 97 24 2 0 0 4 4 0 2 0 0 4 0 2 0 0
(one
FIR
29. Rajasthan
Regi
ster
ed)
30. Sikkim 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
31. Tamil Nadu 85 254 152 106 99 0 6 7 64 52 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 1 0 0
32. Telangana 74 63 132 96 111 - 19 35 17 47 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
33. Tripura 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 5 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
ATR
34. Uttarakhand
0
FIR
Uttar 0 1 0 6 31 0 0 0 0 08 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
35.
Pradesh ATR
803
FIR
36. West Bengal 74 10 5 10 35 0 1 2 2 12 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0
9Annexure-II
Data of complaints against unauthorized agent
registered on eMigrate portal
during last five years
Year Total Grievances Total Grievances
Received Resolved
2021 70 27
2022 189 98
2023 84 43
2024 120 67
2025 321 224
Total 784 459
10Annexure-III
S. Name Name of Number of complaints received by Indian Missions/Posts and resolved
No of the the (fraud, passport retention, non-payment of wages, contract substitution, forced labour, etc.)
. Countr Mission/Po
Complain Complain Complain Complain Complain Complain Complain Complain Complain Complain
y st
ts ts ts ts ts ts ts ts ts ts
received resolved received resolved received resolved received resolved received resolved
2021 2021 2022 2022 2023 2023 2024 2024 2025 2025
1. Albania EOI, Tirana 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 3 5 5
2. Algeria EOI, 8 8 4 4 4 4 7 7 3 3
Algiers
3. Angola HCI, 12 12 10 10 12 12 8 2 8 2
Luanda
4. Bahrai EOI, 335 327 612 579 711 649 603 594 345 310
n Bahrain
5. Bangla HCI, Dhaka 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
desh
6. Belaru EOI, Minsk 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1
s
7. Botswa HCI, 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
na Gaborone
8. Cambo EOI, Phnom 0 0 44 44 207 207 982 982 1300 1300
dia Penh
119. Camer HCI, 0 0 0 0 0 0 76 76 0 0
oon Yaounde
10. Democ EOI, 0 0 41 30 66 40 50 40 33 25
ratic Kinshasa
Republi
c of
Congo
11. Egypt EOI, Cairo 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 1
12. Ethiopi EOI, Addis 7 7 10 10 14 14 73 73 54 54
a Ababa
13. France CGI, 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1
Marseille
14. Ghana HCI, Accra 2 2 3 2 5 5 7 6 5 4
15. Greece EOI, 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 25
Athens
16. Guyana HCI, 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0
Georgetow
n
17. Indone CGI, Bali 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 5
sia
18. Iran EOI, Tehran 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 2 2 2
19. Iraq CGI, Erbil 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1
20. Italy EOI, Rome 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 4
1221. Jordan EOI, 0 0 0 0 118 118 23 23 43 43
Amman
22. Kuwait EOI, 4339 2910 5660 3820 7820 4517 3728 2055 4081 2608
Kuwait
23. Kyrgyz EOI, 0 0 0 0 75 75 90 90 105 105
stan Bishkek
24. Lao EOI, 3 3 81 74 252 244 592 558 1,488 1,421
PDR Vientiane
25. Latvia EOI, Riga 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 4
26. Liberia EOI, 0 0 6 6 4 4 3 3 2 2
Monrovia
27. Malawi HCI, 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0
Lilongwe
28. Malaysi HCI, Kuala 947 947 412 412 1648 1648 2794 2794 2532 2532
a Lumpur
29. Maldiv HCI, Male 203 203 184 184 549 518 1,190 826 855 481
es
30. Maurita EOI, 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0
nia Nouakchott
31. Mauriti HCI, Port 0 0 0 0 3 6 6 2 4 4
us Louis
32. Morocc EOI, Rabat 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
13o
33. Myanm EOI, 0 0 399 338 83 89 203 147 1863 1594
ar Yangon
34. Nepal CGI, 12 12 3 3 2 2 11 11 20 20
Birgunj
35. Oman EOI, 1,077 1,067 2,478 1,927 4,281 4,111 3,114 3,016 2,345 2,241
Muscat
36. Qatar EOI, Doha 1,551 1,552 436 568 139 121 162 334 135 257
37. Republi EOI, 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 12 12
c of Conakry
Guinea
38. Russia EOI, 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 10 10
Moscow
39. Russia CGI, St. 0 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 5 5
Petersburg
40. Rwand HCI, Kigali 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1
a
41. Saudi EOI, Riyadh 1128 1122 1947 1941 2279 2250 2223 1999 2198 1660
Arabia
42. Saudi CGI, 650 650 456 456 798 798 630 615 679 665
Arabia Jeddah
43. Senega EOI, Dakar 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 5
l
44. Serbia EOI, 1 1 5 5 3 3 12 12 34 34
14Belgrade
45. Seyche HCI, 19 19 31 31 58 58 42 42 46 46
lles Victoria,
Mahe
46. Sierra EOI, 0 0 4 4 3 3 18 18 27 26
Leone Freetown
47. Sloveni EOI, 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
a Ljubljana
48. South EOI, Seoul 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
Korea
49. Sri HCI, 121 121 35 35 108 108 221 215 167 167
Lanka Colombo
50. Sri AHCI, 0 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
Lanka Kandy
51. Syria EOI, 0 0 0 0 1 1 4 4 2 2
Damascus
52. Thailan EOI, 14 14 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
d Bangkok
53. Togo EOI, Lome 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 2
54. Tunisia EOI, Tunis 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1
55. Turkiye CGI, 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0
Istanbul
56. UAE EOI, Abu 755 755 779 779 528 528 387 387 411 407
Dhabi
1557. UAE CGI, Dubai 1,972 1,714 2,427 2,366 2,928 2,543 3,030 2,981 3,727 3,309
58. Uganda HCI, 1 1 5 5 2 0 2 2 2 0
Kampala
59. Uzbeki EOI, 0 0 0 0 0 0 800 800 540 540
stan Tashkent
60. Vietna EOI, Hanoi 1 1 2 2 7 7 21 21 4 4
m
61. Zambia HCI, 9 9 2 1 4 2 12 11 9 8
Lusaka
*****
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