Delhi makes agent registration compulsory
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The Delhi government has made it mandatory that all travel agents and tour operators are registered. According to Hindustan Times, Delhi government officials said tourists would now be able to register complaints against sub-standard services to the tourism department. It said the penalty not only includes a fine but the department could also cancel the permit and send the operator to jail. “It will help us keep a check on fly-by-night tour operators who often dupe tourists. The new rules will also set a benchmark for bigger tour operators who would think twice before providing sub-standard services,” a senior Delhi government official was quoted saying.According to a conservative estimate by the paper, there are about 3,500 big and small tour operators, travel and excursion agents operating in Delhi. These operators would not only have to have a proper office space but to also report their contact details to the nodal officer of the transport department along with their email addresses on their letterheads and other papers. “We had been pursuing the government for almost five years to make registration of tour operators mandatory,” SP Singh, a senior official at the Indian Foundation of Transport Research and Training, was quoted saying.”We observed that exploitation of tourists had increased in the past few years. And most outstation tourists felt helpless as there was no mechanism in place to complain against travel agents.”
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