Misbehaviour with tourists will now be a cognisable offence in Rajasthan.
Misbehaviour with tourists will now be a cognisable offence in Rajasthan and a non-bailable one if repeated.
An amendment bill was passed in the state assembly on Monday night to insert a new section 27-A in the Rajasthan Tourism Trade (Facilitation and Regulation) Act, 2010.
The house passed the Rajasthan Tourism Trade (Facilitation and Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2021 with a voice vote.
Tourism is one of the key industries in Rajasthan which is visited by lakhs of domestic and foreign tourists every year.
However, the visitors often face problems due to touts, illegal vendors and undesirable elements.
According to the section 27-A, "All the offences punishable under the Act shall be cognisable and bailable: provided that the offences punishable under subsection (3) and sub-section (4) of section 13 of the Act shall be cognisable and non-bailable."
Section 13 (3) says whoever commits subsequent offence of touting shall be arrested without warrant by police and, on conviction, be punished with rigorous imprisonment of up to three years or fine of up to Rs 30,000 or both.
While 13 (4) says whoever, habitually engages in the practice of touting even after having been punished more than once, shall be arrested without warrant by police and punished on conviction with rigorous imprisonment of up to seven years or a fine up to Rs 1 lakh or both.
Participating in a debate on the bill, Minister of State for Tourism Govind Singh Dotasra said the legislation was brought in 2010 to boost tourism and prevent misbehaviour with tourists.
However, as it was not mentioned whether the offence was bailable or non-bailable, it had to be amended, he said.
Mr Dotasra said police stations in Jaipur and Udaipur were set up by the state government to check touting and cases were filed in 2016 and challans submitted.
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