Yes, I had to send my passport as I'm not exempt. I sent it through the Netherlands VAC. It has been 7 weeks without passport :(.
Do you know any tracker to check current processing time in this particular office?
I'm on the same boat. Sent my passport to the London High commission on 17 December. Haven't heard back from them since. They didn't respond to the Web form enquiry or email. Have you tried contacting them in any other way?