Tourists planning to travel to Gangtok from Darjeeling and vice-versa in shared taxis can now breathe a sigh of relief with the Bengal government having decided to provide permits to 30 more vehicles for trips to the Himalayan state.

There are four syndicates in Darjeeling to ferry tourists to Gangtok. However, of the 84 vehicles enlisted in the taxi syndicates, only 14 had permits to travel to Sikkim.

Pradip Lama, the president of the Pahar Terai Sanjukta Pariwan Mahasangh, a taxi syndicate, said: “On Friday, we had a meeting in Siliguri and the state government decided to provide permits to 30 more vehicles which operate through these syndicates.”

According to an agreement between Sikkim and Bengal, 2,500 vehicles are given annual permits by each state to travel to the other’s territory.

“However, the quota was exhausted and most had been taken over by luxury vehicles, trucks and buses. The syndicates’ shared taxis are used by common people who cannot afford to reserve the entire vehicle. Hence, the new permits would be a relief for common people and budget travellers,” said Lama, who is also the general secretary of the Darjeeling Association of Travel Agents.

A hired vehicle charges between Rs 3,000 and Rs 5,000 for a trip to Gangtok. The per-passenger rate in shared vehicles is Rs 250.

Taxi owners and drivers said many of the syndicate vehicles could not renew the permits as they had to travel to Siliguri to obtain the reqired permission. “There is a language problem and moreover, it would be difficult to meet transport officials there. So, we are forced to take the help of agents,” said a driver.

The drivers alleged that while the fee for the permit was Rs 540, the agents would charge Rs 1,200 to R 1,500. “We also need to obtain a district endorsement certificate against a fee of Rs 6,500. However, we end up paying almost 15,000 and it would take months to obtain the permit,” said another driver.

The Mahasangh headed by Lama took up the matter with the state government in January. “State chief secretary Rajiva Sinha, transport secretary Narayan Nigam, joint secretary of state transport authority Sandip Dutta, Darjeeling DM Deepa P. Priya and the Confederation of Indian Industries (north Bengal)’s vice-chairman, Sanjay Tibrewal, worked hard to grant extra permits,” said Lama who also thanked chief minister Mamata Banerjee for showing interest in solving the drivers’ problems.

The drivers said hardly any share taxis had been moving from Darjeeling to Sikkim for the past few months. “Apart from regular checking in Sikkim, no insurance coverage is provided if we travel to Sikkim without permits,” said Milan Baraily, a member of a taxi syndicate.

The district officials said applications and fees for the 30 new permits could be submitted in Darjeeling, instead of Siliguri.

“Moreover, there are also talks to increase the permit quota from 2,500 to 3,000,”said Lama.