Himachal Pradesh Govt Seeks Mandatory Registration Of Tourism Units In State; CM Sukhu Tables Bill In Assembly

The Himachal Pradesh government is set to mandate the registration of tourism units in the state as Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu on Wednesday tabled a bill in the state assembly to regulate the tourism industry. The Himachal Pradesh Tourism Development and Registration (Amendment Bill), 2023 also seeks to amend nine sections of the previous legislation.  

According to the tabled bill, the registration of tourism units will have to be done within 90 days after fulfilling all the formalities. If they fail to adhere to the law, units operating without registration will face government action. The officials also stated that the units would not have to pay any fee till the expiry of the existing registration licence. 

Under the 2002 act, a provision of six months imprisonment and a fine of Rs 10,000 was made for units running without registration. The amendment to the previous bill seeks to do away with the provision for imprisonment but the fine amount will be increased to Rs 1 lakh for the offenders. 

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CM Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu while tabling the bill at the assembly said the 2002 law was not revised for two decades and the tourism sector in Himachal Pradesh has undergone multiple changes in terms of its scope and the number of people involved. 

CM Sukhu also stated that the tourism department is facing challenges to regulate and register the tourism units due to which the bill has been tabled for discussion.