The bill was passed in the State Assembly with a voice vote.
The offensive behavior with tourists will now be a cognisable offense in Rajasthan and non-bailable if the accused repeats the offence. An amendment bill was passed in the State Assembly on Monday evening to add a new section 27-A in the Rajasthan Tourism Trade (Facilitation and Regulation) Act, 2010.
The bill was passed in the House with a voice vote. Tourism is one of the main industries in Rajasthan, visited by several domestic and foreign tourists every year. It is often noticed that visitors face problems due to touts, illegal sellers and unwanted elements. According to 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."
According to the Section 13 (3), if any person commits subsequent offence of touting, he/she shall be imprisoned without the warrant of the police and if found convicted, will be punished with a strict imprisonment of up to three years or fine up to Rs 30,000 or both. Meanwhile, according to Section 13 (4), if someone commits the offence repeatedly even after being punished more than once, he/she shall be arrested without warrant by police and convicted, will be punished with a strict imprisonment of up to seven years or a fine up to ? 1 lakh or both.
The Minister of State for Tourism Govind Singh Dotasra stated while participating in a debate on the bill, that legislation was presented in 2010 to promote tourism and to prevent misconduct with the tourists. However, since it had not been mentioned whether the offence was bailable or not, amendments had to be done, he said. Mr Dotasra stated that the police stations in Jaipur and Udaipur were made by the state government to review the cases of touting and also cases were filed in 2016 and the challans submitted.
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