Stakeholders of the north Bengal tourism industry have expressed apprehension that the rentals of vehicles from Siliguri to Sikkim and vice-versa might surge during the ensuing summer season and have sought immediate intervention from the Bengal transport department on this.

On Wednesday, a delegation of the Eastern Himalaya Travel and Tour Operators Association (EHTTOA) submitted a memorandum to Milton Chandra Das, a joint secretary of the state transport authority posted here, saying the department should immediately resolve certain issues to keep car rental charges under control during the summer months when thousands of tourists flock in the hills, including Sikkim.

“The state (Bengal) government has stopped issuing permanent permits to vehicles of the state for Sikkim. Nowadays, only temporary permits of 14 or 28 days are issued at the district level for vehicles,” said Debashis Chakraborty, the general secretary, EHTTOA.

He pointed out that a car owner has to spend a higher sum to get a temporary permit. Also, every time such a commercial cab that is registered in Bengal enters or leaves Sikkim, ₹200 had to be paid in the neighboring state.

“In this situation, there is every possibility that the rental charges will surge as the demand for vehicles will increase during the upcoming tourist season. We want the state transport department to either start issuing permanent permits for Sikkim or extend the validity of temporary permits to three months. This will reduce the expenditure of transporters,” Chakraborty added.

The EHTTOA members pointed out that unlike Sikkim, where commercial cabs of Bengal can move only to certain towns, cabs from Sikkim can get a permit to move anywhere in Bengal.

“We also have information that there are transporters in our state who have permanent Sikkim permits. But they no longer run their vehicles to Sikkim. The department should identify such transporters and take back the permanent permits from them. Those can be handed over to others who sent their cabs to Sikkim,” said Sandipan Ghosh, a former general secretary of the association.

The stakeholders claimed that all-India permits weren't considered in Sikkim.

“It is surprising that cab owners spend thousands to obtain an all-India permit, which is not considered in Sikkim. Often, such vehicles are intercepted, fines are imposed and cases are registered over other issues but not on the permit. This practice must stop. We want our government to take it up with the Sikkim government,” Ghosh said.