Dharamshala (Himachal), Dec 20 (PTI) Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu on Wednesday tabled in the assembly a bill that seeks to make mandatory registration of all tourism units, including home stays.
The Himachal Pradesh Tourism Development and Registration (Amendment) Bill, 2023, also seeks to amend nine sections of the original 2002 legislation.
Units operating without registration will face action after the bill is passed into law. The operational units will be required to apply for registration within 30 days but these will not have to pay any fee till the expiry of the existing registration licence.
The registration of tourism units will have to be done within 90 days after fulfilling all the formalities.
Under the 2002 act, a provision of six months’ imprisonment and fine of Rs 10,000 was made for units running without registration. The amendment seeks to do away with the provision for imprisonment but the fine amount will be increased to Rs 1 lakh.
Introducing the amendment bill, Sukhu said the 2002 law has not been revised and the tourism sector has undergone tremendous changes since then in terms of its scope and the number of people involved.
Due to the proliferation of tourism units, the tourism department is facing challenges of regulations and registration, the chief minister said. PTI COR BPL SZM
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