Licensing Requirements for a Travel Agency in Pakistan
Section 6 of the Act clearly prohibits any person to hold himself out or act as travel agency unless he holds a license. Also section 6 of the Act prohibit all airlines or other carriers to delegate general authority in respect of sales, either directly or through a sub contract, to a person who does not hold a license.
The following shall be the conditions of the license, namely:-
- The licensee shall prominently display the license granted to him in his office premises
- The license shall be in the name of a specific person, for a specific business, place or places;
- The license shall not be transferable;
- The licensee shall limit his field of operation to the activity or, activities for which the license is granted;
- The licensee shall have at least one year’s practical experience and professional know how to run a travel agency, or he shall employ a professionally qualified and experienced manager;
- The licensee shall employ experienced and trained staff for travel and tour operation work;
- The licensee shall be a citizen of Pakistan;
- The licensee shall obtain prior permission of the Controller if he desires to change his field of operation or branches and shall get his license modified accordingly;
- The licensee shall promptly and immediately inform the Controller of any change in the nature or composition of his firm obtain his permission and get his license endorsed accordingly or have a fresh license issued to run the business;
- The licensee shall get his service charges approved by the Committee through the Controller and no change in such charges shall be made without the prior approval of the Committee;
- The licensee shall not charge for his services except in accordance with the rats approved by the Committee;
- The service charges duly approved by the Committee shall be prominently displayed by the licensee in his office premises and brought to the notice of the tourists and other clients concerned before entering into a contract with them;
- The licensee shall have a properly planned office in a suitable locality with distinct and separate counters for booking passages, baggage or goods by sea , air, rail or road, group tours, sight-seeing and entertainment bookings with such other work facilities as may be desirable for the activities undertaken by him;
- The licensee engaged in group tours at sightseeing activities shall employ on a regular basis sufficient number of licensed tourist guides duly, trained at the Tourism and Hotel Training Institute of Pakistan
- The licensee shall furnish any information in respect of his business that may be sought by the Controller;
- The Controller or an officer duly authorized by him shall have free access and right of inspection to the premises of the licensee and his records
- The licensee shall quote the number of his license prominently in all his correspondence and commercial publications;
- The licensee shall, within fifteen days of the grant of license, open a business guarantee fund under sub-rule (1) of rule 14, or furnish a bank guarantee under sub-rule (2) of that rule, 4{Provided that the bank guarantee fund be opened or as the case may be, the bank guarantee may be furnished within a further period of thirty days on payment of late fee of five thousand rupees and}
- The licensee shall not carry out any business related to travel and tour operation work with any person or organization which does not hold a valid license granted under the Act.
Renewal of a Travel Agency License in Pakistan
The license may be renewed on payment, within fifteen days from the date of its expiry, provided that the application for renewal of a license is made before the date of its expiry. If the application for renewal of a license is made after the date of its expiry, it shall be renewed on payment of late fee of five thousand rupees.