It calls for a maximum prison sentence of seven years and a fine of up to ₹5 lakh for travel agents found running their operations without a valid registration certificate envisioned by the bill.
Some of the key provisions enshrined in The Haryana Registration and Regulation of Travel Agents Bill, 2025 are:
- The bill provides for a jail term ranging from two years to seven years and a penalty of ₹2-5 lakh for travel agents found operating without valid registration, as per reports.
- Anyone who “attempts or is found involved in human smuggling or in the preparation of forged documents, shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which shall not be less than seven years but which may extend to ten years and shall also be liable to fine not less than two lakh rupees but which may extend to five lakh rupees”.
- The bill, if passed, will require any person intending to start a travel agency or those already in such profession at the time of the bill’s adoption to make an application to the competent authority within a period of three months from the commencement of the Act in order to obtain a registration certificate. The registration certificate will carry a validity of three years and can be renewed thereafter.
- The proposed legislation also states, “Any person who has obtained a registration certificate under this Act for doing the profession of travel agent subsequently opens other office or its branch at a place situated in same or another district, he shall be required to obtain a fresh registration certificate for such office or its branch.”
- According to the bill, the competent authority will be empowered to cancel the registration of a travel agent if they are found involved in human smuggling or in the preparation of forged documents, or are convicted by a court for any criminal offence.
There are several other scenarios where the competent authority will be allowed to cancel the registration certificate, including in the event that the business (entity) becomes insolvent or bankrupt.
The bill comes within months of hundreds of Indians deported by the US as part of the country’s crackdown on illegal immigration.
A vast majority of these people were from Haryana and Punjab. The deported Indians entered the US by travelling through the perilous and illegal ‘dunki route’.
The risky trail, cutting through various countries and continents, is widely used by travel agents to facilitate the journey of clients to their desired countries.
(Edited by : Sudarsanan Mani)
