The Travel Agencies’
Act, 1976
XXX OF 1976
18th May, 1976
An Act to provide for the development,
regulation and control
of the profession of travel agencies in Pakistan
Whereas it is necessary and expedient to provide for the development, regulation and control of the profession of travel agencies in
It is hereby enacted as follows:---
1. Short title, extent and
commencement.-(1) This Act may be called the
Travel Agencies Act, 1976.
(2) It extends to the whole of Pakistan
(3) It shall come into force at
once.
2. Definitions.-ln this Act, unless there is anything repugnant in the
subject or context, -
(a) ‘Committee’ means the Travel
Agencies Regulatory Committee set up by the Federal Government under section 3;
(b) ‘licence’ means a licence granted
under this Act to any person to operate as a travel agency;
(c) ‘licensed guide’ means a guide
licensed under the law for the regulation and control of the profession of
tourist guides;
(d) ‘prescribed’ means prescribed
under the rules;
(e) ‘rules’ means rules made under
this Act;
(f) ‘travel agency’ means a person,
by whatever name called, who-
(i) makes, directly or indirectly,
on commercial basis arrangements for the passage of the tourists, or use of
transport, or transportation of their baggage or goods by sea, air, rail or
road; or
(ii) makes arrangements for lodging,
transport or other services relating to travel of persons within Pakistan or
arranges entertainment, sight-seeing, excursion and guide services, whether the
arrangements are made on the basis of comprehensive all inclusive rates or on
the basis of separate charges for each service provided; or
(iii) has been delegated general
authority in respect of sales for the airlines or other carriers, either
directly or through a sub-contract; and
(g) ‘tourist’ means a person
normally residing outside Pakistan who enters Pakistan and remains therein for
not less than twenty-four hours and not more than six months in the course of
any year for purposes such as touring, recreation, sports, health, study,
religious pilgrimages or business, and includes a citizens of Pakistan, who
travels within Pakistan or proceeds abroad for any of the said purposes.
3. Committee.-(1) As soon as may be after the commencement of this Act,
the Federal Government shall set up a committee to be known as the Travel
Agencies Regulatory Committee consisting of a Chairman and such other members
as the Federal Government may determine.
(2) The Chairman and other members
of the Committees shall hold office during the pleasure of the Federal
Government on such terms and conditions as the Federal Government may
determine.
(3) The Committee shall perform the
following functions, namely:---
(a) advise the Federal Government in
the implementation of the provisions of this Act and the rules;
(b) approve the rates of service
charges of travel agencies in respect of various services rendered by them to
the tourists;
(c) advise the Federal Government
from time to time in respect of licence fees to be prescribed for various
services rendered by the travel agencies;
(d) assist the Federal Government in
the preparation of a code of conduct for travel agencies; and
(e) such other functions as are
connected with the objects of this Act and as the Federal Government may
entrust to it.
4. Licensing of travel agency.-(1) Any person operating or intending to organize and
operate a travel agency shall apply to the Federal Government on the prescribed
from for the grant of a licence.
(2) Subject to subsection (3), on
receipt of an application under subsection (1), the Federal Government may, on
payment of the prescribed fee by the applicant, grant to the applicant a
licence in the prescribed form.
(3) Licence shall not be granted to an applicant if,---
(3) Licence shall not be granted to an applicant if,---
(a) the applicant, or the manager or
any partner or director of the applicant, has been convicted of an offence
which, in the opinion of the Federal Government, involves moral turpitude;
(b) the applicant is a minor or
insane person;
(c) the financial position of the
applicant is, in the opinion of the Federal Government, such as would prevent
the applicant from acting as a travel agency efficiently;
(d) the applicant has had no
experience of. travel arrangements required to operate the business of travel
agency and has not employed persons who have had such experience; or
(e) the applicant does not have an
officer of a prescribed minimum standard or does not engage experienced and
trained employees or licensed guides or does not provide such transportation
facilities as may be prescribed.
(4) The Federal Government shall
maintain a register in which the names, addresses’ nature composition and the
field of operation of all licensed travel agencies shall be entered.
(5) The licence shall, unless
earlier cancelled or suspended under section 10 or section 11, remain valid for
one year and may be renewed from year to year in such manner and on payment of
such fee, as may be prescribed.
5. Exemption from application.-This Act shall not apply to,---
(a) enterprises operated by the
State;
(b) national carriers of Pakistan and foreign airlines, duly authorised
to operate to, from or via Pakistan
(c) any agency, whether private or
official, which is specifically entrusted by Government with the work relating
to handling of Haj pilgrims or other pilgrims, within or without Pakistan, and
who are subject to special regulations governing their field of activity.
6. Prohibition to act without
licence, etc.- Subject to section 5,---
(1) no person shall hold himself out
or act as a travel agency unless he holds a licence;
(2) no airline or other carrier
shall delegate general authority in respect of sales, either directly or
through a sub-contract, to a person who does not hold a licence.
7. Business guarantee fund.-(l) A licensed travel agency shall maintain in a scheduled
bank a business guarantee fund of such minimum amounts or furnish such bank
guarantee, as may be prescribed.
(2) No amount shall be payable out
of a business guarantee fund maintained by a licensed travel agency under
subsection (1) except to the order of the Federal Government.
(3) The Federal Government may,
after making such inquiry as it may deem fit and after giving a travel agency
an opportunity of showing cause against the order proposed to be made, order
payment, out of the business guarantee fund of the travel agency, of any sum
owed by the agency to a tourist, carrier, company or hotel or lodging house and
not settled by it within thirty days from the date of its becoming due.
(4) A travel agency from whose
business guarantee fund payment of any amount has been made under subsection
(3) shall, within a period of fifteen days of such payment, deposit the said
amount into the business guarantee fund.
8. Service charges.--(l) The rates of service charges from the tourists shall
be set out in a rate list drawn up by a licensed travel agency from time to
time and approved by the Committee.
(2) A copy of the rate list referred
to in subsection (1) for the time being in force shall be pasted at some
conspicuous part of the office of the travel agency.
9. Alterations.-A licensed travel agency shall, on payment of the
prescribed fee, have every change in its nature or composition or its field of
operation entered in the register maintained under section 4, within fifteen
days of the day on which such change occurs.
10. Discontinuance of business, etc.-ln the case of discontinuance of transfer of business,
dissolution, re-organization or winding up of a licensed travel agency, the
Federal Government shall be informed by the agency within thirty days of such discontinuance,
transfer, dissolution, re-organization or winding up, and on receipt of the
information, the Federal Government may either cancel the licence granted to
the travel agency or, in the case of transfer of business or re-organization,
grant a new licence to the transferee travel agency or to the travel agency as
reorganized.
11. Suspension or cancellation of
licence.-The Federal Government may, after
affording a licensed travel agency an opportunity of showing cause against the
action proposed to be taken against it, by order in writing suspend the licence
of the travel agency for a period not exceeding six months or cancel its
licence if the agency.
(a) violates the provisions of this
Act or the rules or the terms and conditions of the licence or the prescribed
code of conduct;
(b) suspends its business without
intimation to or permission of, the Federal Government and does not resume it
within six months from the date of such suspension or within the time specified
by the Federal Government.
(c) contravenes the provisions of
subsection (1) or subsection (4) of section 7; or
(d) becomes a person to whom a
licence cannot be granted under subsection (3) of section 4.
12. Complaints.- Any traveller having a complain; against any travel agency
may approach the Committee which shall dispose of the same in the prescribed
manner.
13. Appeal and review.-(l) A travel agency aggrieved by the decision or order of
an officer or authority other than the Federal Government under this Act or the
rules may prefer an appeal to the Federal Government within the prescribed time
and in the prescribed manner; and the decision of the Federal Government in
such appeal shall be final.
(2) The Federal Government may at
any time of its own motion, or on the application of any travel agency
aggrieved by any decision or order passed by the Federal Government under this
Act or the rules within the prescribed time and in the prescribed manner, pass
such order in relation thereto as it thinks fit:
Provided that no order against a travel agency shall be passed unless it has been given an opportunity of showing cause against it and of being heard.
Provided that no order against a travel agency shall be passed unless it has been given an opportunity of showing cause against it and of being heard.
14. Penalty .-(1) Any travel agency which contravenes or fails to comply
with the provision of this Act or the rules or violates the prescribed code of
conduct shall, without prejudice to any other action that may be taken against
it under this Act. be punishable with fine which may extend to twenty-five
thousand rupees.
15. Delegation of powers.-The Federal Government may, by notification in the official
Gazette, direct that all or any of its powers under this Act shall, under such
conditions, if any, as may be specified, be exercisable also-
(a) by any officer or authority
subordinate to the Federal Government, or
(b) by a Provincial Government or
any officer or authority subordinate to such Government.
16. Power to make rules.- (1) The Federal Government may be notification in the
official. Gazette, make rules for carrying out the purpose of this Act.
(2) In particular, and without
prejudice to the generality of the foregoing power, such rules may provide for
all or any of the following matters, namely:---
(a) the fees payable for the issue
and renewal of a licence, depending on the nature of the services to be
rendered by an applicant to tourists and the number of branch offices the
applicant proposes to establish;
(b) the form in which an application
for a licence is to be made;
(c) the form of the licence;
(d) the code of conduct;
(e) the conditions which a licence
shall be subject; and
(f) the manner in which, and the
time within which, an appeal under this Act may be preferred.
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