Complaint Details

Status	:	Closed
Complaint No	:	0030646/2014
Category	:	Service Provider
Date	:	10-07-2014
Subject Line	:	Invalid Apostille
Complainant	:	Sebin George
Address	:	Velachery
Complainee	:	Excellent Apostille and Study Services Pvt.Ltd.
Address	:	Status QUO, Sterling Road, Chetpet, Chennai - 600034, India

Complaint Details
I have placed an order to place an Apostille on a marriage certificate solemnized under the Special Marriage Act with the company Excellent Apostille and Study Services Pvt.Ltd. in Chennai, in April 2014. For this service I paid Rs. 7000. The company delivered the certificate with what they claimed to be an Apostille which later I proceeded to register outside India. After my marriage certificate was held for nearly 3 months with the competent authority, I was questioned its validity because of the improper Apostille placed on the back of the certificate.
As clearly stated in the Hague Convention http://www.hcch.net/upload/abc12e.pdf an Apostille certifies the origin of the public document to which it relates, it certifies the authenticity or seal of the person that signed or sealed the public document and the capacity in which this was done. In my case, it was supposed to certify the authority of the registrar officer that solemnized the marriage and who signed the certificate. Instead of doing this, the Excellent Apostille and Study Services Pvt.Ltd placed a non-related notary signature on the back of the certificate and specified that one in the Apostille, thus making it invalid.
When I confronted them with the error they refused to rectify it or to refund the money, specifying that it is the only kind of Apostille they offer, meaning the fake kind.
I strongly recommend against anyone using the services of this company and I will make sure that the complaint will go further to the competent authorities which can verify the legality of their business.

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