The Indian Embassy in Bahrain has blacklisted 49 companies of the gulf country for allegedly cheating and exploiting its nationals.
Indian Ambassador Balkrishna Shetty said the list included firms who kept workers in cramped living quarters or unhygienic conditions, failed to pay their salaries on time, physically abused them or had not provided safety measures at worksites.
The embassy will pass the names of the blacklisted companies to labour authorities in India so that potential recruits can be forewarned before they travel to Bahrain.
Shetty said the number of firms caught violating laws had gone up sharply in recent times, but the embassy was working with Bahraini authorities to ensure everything was being done to prevent abuse.
The ambassador further said once a company was blacklisted it is possible for a firm to come off the list, if evidence and a written guarantee was provided to the embassy that it had change its ways.