The tax is being collected at Ghoom near the Buddhist monastery, 7 Km from Darjeeling, where each tourist is being given a receipt of Rs 5 as the tourist tax for visiting Darjeeling. Simultaneously, the vehicle carrying tourists would be charged Rs 20 and the tourist bus would be charged Rs 50.
The SDO, Darjeeling, Mr Tamal Das, who is also the head of the board of administration that runs the Darjeeling Municipality, informed this today.
“The system has become effective from today onwards. The Darjeeling municipality and other private agencies would share the revenue,” he said.
“A similar type of fee is being collected in different municipalities spread over north Bengal and it is also right for the Darjeeling municipality. An amount of Rs 5 is a minimal one for the tourists. They would not mind it,” Mr Das said.
“Moreover, this is being done because there is a lot of pressure regarding the services being provided by the municipality for the tourists that come here in their thousands. Locals keep paying taxes. The tourists cannot be exempted,” he said.
The Darjeeling municipality has already started collecting solid waste product on a door-to-door basis in 13 wards and each household is being charged Rs 2 by way of service charge.
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