The Sikkim government is planning to launch an online system for issuing Restricted Area Permits (RAP) and Protected Area Permits (PAP). The new system is made to aimed at making the permit process more transparent reducing revenue leakages and keeping track of tourist movement in restricted areas. Prem Singh Tamang who is the Chief Minister of Sikkim chaired a consultation meeting on the proposed system on Tuesday 18 August 2026. The meeting was organized by the Tourism and Civil Aviation Department under the Sikkim INSPIRES initiative. Tour operators, driver's associations, police officials and other stakeholders attended the meeting and shared their views on the new system. Tourism Department Chairman Tenzing Norgay Lachungpa and senior official Raj Yadav explained the proposed system and asked stakeholders for their suggestions before it is introduced. Under the new system, online permits will be issued only for destinations that come under the RAP and PAP rules. A geo fencing system is also being planned to ensure that only eligible tour operators and drivers based in Sikkim can apply for the permits. Officials said the permits will not be transferable or allowed to be sold to others. All payments will also be made online.
The government has also invited local youth to come forward with business ideas related to tourism. The department said the new system would focus on "quality over quantity" by giving more attention to the protection of important tourist destinations. Yumthang Valley was given as an example, where controlled tourist movement and revenue collected from visitors could help improve conservation and infrastructure. Officials said the revenue collected from each tourist destination would be kept separately and used for the development and maintenance of that particular place. Yadav pointed out differences in the revenue collection figures for 2025 and said that revenue leakages had caused major losses to the government. He said the proposed online system, which will use AI, could help monitor permits in real time and reduce problems linked to the manual process at checkpoints.
Officials said the permit validity which was initially planned for one hour, would be extended to two hours after stakeholders raised concerns. Police and Army personnel would not be allowed to issue permits directly under the new system. Special cases would be handled by the Home Department. Officials also assured stakeholders that proper measures would be taken to protect personal data and prevent any leakage of information.
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