Overview
- Chief Minister Prem Singh Tamang chaired a stakeholder consultation where the Tourism Department circulated a draft framework for an integrated online RAP/PAP permit system and sought feedback from tour operators, drivers and police.
- The proposal would replace manual permits with non-transferable digital permits, require digital payments and use AI to enable real-time monitoring to close revenue gaps noted in 2025 collections.
- Geo-fencing based at Rangpo is proposed to let only Sikkim-registered tour operators and Sikkimese drivers generate permits and to bar out-of-state vehicles on designated routes.
- Officials said the plan would ring-fence fees collected at specific destinations for conservation and maintenance, extend permit validity after stakeholder requests, and assign special-case handling to the Home Department while police and army would not issue permits directly.
- The system is still in development after the consultation and faces technical, enforcement and data-protection challenges as Sikkim balances conservation, border sensitivity and local economic priorities.