Changes in national permit regime soon to ease movement of tourist vehicles

To allow tourist passenger vehicles to move seamlessly across the country, a new scheme is being formulated under which any tourist vehicle operator may apply online for an all-India tourist authorisation permit, the government said on Friday.

The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) has issued a notification for an amendment to national permit regime under the Central Motor Vehicles Rules, 1989 for promoting tourism across the country.

"The ministry is in the pursuit of providing seamless movement to the tourist passenger vehicles after the success of goods carriage vehicle under national permit regime," it said in a statement.

This motive has culminated into a new set of rules, which henceforth will be known as, 'All India Tourist Vehicles Authorization and Permit Rules, 2020', it added. The ministry has invited comments from public and other stakeholders on it.

Under this new scheme, any tourist vehicle operator may apply for an all-India tourist authorization permit through online mode, the ministry said.

All such authorisations shall be issued after all relevant documents submitted as stipulated in the rules and due nationwide fees deposited towards such permit, within 30 days of submission of such applications, the statement said.

"Moreover, the scheme entails flexibility in the form of authorisation/permit being granted, as the case may be, and shall be valid for a period of three months or its multiples thereof not exceeding three years at a time," it added.

This provision has been incorporated keeping in mind those areas of the country where there is a limited season of tourism and also for those operators who have limited financial capacity, the statement said.

"This scheme will render consolidation of a central database and fees of all such authorisation/permits, which might give a sense of tourist movements, scope of improvement, promotion of tourism, and help increase revenues generated through such registrations," it said.

All existing permits shall continue to be in force during their validity.

Travel and tourism industry in our country have increased manifold in last ten-fifteen years. The growth has been contributed by both domestic and international tourists, and there is a trend of high expectation and consumer experience, the government said.

Earlier, the issue of tourist permit was discussed in the 39th Transport Development Council Meeting and was appreciated and concurred by the state participants.