Kathmandu, December 27

Trekking Agencies’ Association of Nepal (TAAN) has said that it is ready to revise the agreement signed with Nepal Tourism Board (NTB) regarding distribution of Trekkers Information Management System (TIMS) card and managing the amount collected from issuing the cards.

Issuing a white paper today, TAAN has said that NTB has not released the share of amount from issuance of TIMS card to the association. Thus, TAAN is ready to revise the agreement if needed.

As per TAAN, 30 per cent of the amount collected from TIMS goes to TAAN’s organisational account, while 30 per cent goes towards NTB’s organisational account. Likewise, 30 per cent of the amount goes to the joint account of NTB and TAAN, while the remaining 10 per cent is deposited in the workers’ welfare fund.

The amount that TAAN is seeking from NTB is related to its share of money collected in the joint account of the organisations.

Distribution of TIMS card came into operation in 2008 to ensure the safety and security of trekkers and to control illegal trekking operations. Since then, TAAN has been issuing TIMS cards to group trekkers, while NTB distributes it to free individual trekkers.

As mentioned in the white paper, TAAN’s demand has not been addressed despite frequent discussions with the concerned authorities. The umbrella organisation of the trekking agencies in the country has also mentioned that several works have been affected as NTB has not released their share from the joint account.

The affected activities, as mentioned in the white paper, include search, rescue and medication of trekkers.

The white paper has mentioned that TAAN has not received its due share of the amount collected in the joint account since the last five years. “This has also adversely affected the administration expenses and wages of staffers working at the TIMS collection centre, along with the work of introducing and promoting new trekking routes,” reads the white paper.

Citing the security issues of trekkers, TAAN has been demanding the government to stop distributing trekking permits to individual trekkers.