[bullrun87]

More bad news for ladakh travellers
"Ladakh's connectivity with rest of India could get curtailed with the union of Air India (domestic) pilots asking its members not to operate flights to Leh. The Indian Commercial Pilots' Association (ICPA) took this move after a private airline complained against AI and another airline for landing in Leh without meeting the minimum visibility conditions of this high altitude airport."


http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/i...w/47858043.cms

[Zappo]

Originally Posted by bullrun87

More bad news for ladakh travellers
"Ladakh's connectivity with rest of India could get curtailed with the union of Air India (domestic) pilots asking its members not to operate flights to Leh. The Indian Commercial Pilots' Association (ICPA) took this move after a private airline complained against AI and another airline for landing in Leh without meeting the minimum visibility conditions of this high altitude airport."


http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/i...w/47858043.cms

I actually wanted to post this news but you beat me to it. Actually it could be a blessing in disguise. I hope it actually happens. They should stop flying to Ladakh for at least the next 6 months.

So no flights will dry up a major part of the tourist population who hire the cabs there. The local taxi drivers would have also scared off the people who take rental self-drive vehicles to Ladakh. Soon the hotel owners and other businesses will realize that everyone is suffering now because whatever tourists they used to get through the road route is also almost gone now (very few drive their own vehicles) thanks to the militant attitude of the taxi operators. This should create a nice opposition front that can act as an alternate pressure point on the local authorities.

If the flights stop going there it may just prove to be the proverbial silver lining...

[ringoism]

Originally Posted by tsk1979

Taxi drivers started shouting, blocked the way and he feared for the safety of his family. He drove back to leh and contacted tourism office, but they shrugged it off saying that taxi drivers also have to make their living.

Yeah, the local tourism office is probably not the most profitable place to take up the issue...

Originally Posted by tsk1979

Similarly, cities like chandigarh, goa which get lots of people from mountains during off season should ban them. This is essentially what you are saying. Its perfect if you have this opinion, but there is something called India. India is composed of states but these states are not countries. They are states. Being a member of the country of India, I am guaranteed certain freedoms by the constitution. Constitutional freedom is being impinged here. That is the issue.

Of course, if you do hold the point that its okay, then people who hold this point should try and get their state to form an independent nation, so that laws of India do not apply there. As long as laws of the republic of India are valid there, these people are just common criminals and mafia.

This could hardly be better stated, THANK YOU. I hope the gov't itself will affirm this by sternly discouraging these sorts of loose, law-defying elements and whatever attitudes are driving them.

Originally Posted by rascalangel

Its kind of stupid that one books a package from so far away only to realize that package does not include local taxi tours in most of the places. One has to shell out extra bucks to different taxi unions. (

The irony of the whole thing is that, in reality, nobody wins in the tit-for-tat regional taxi union battleground. The Ladakh union bans Manali-based taxis. The Manali union bans the J&K vehicles. Etc, etc. As suggested above, it truly could end up extending to all the metros feeding these tourist areas. So what you're left with is operators on either side either driving back empty vehicles (unpaid or highly cut-rate) to their place of origin, or else waiting around several days doing nothing when they're away from home, till the return trip with the same paying passengers they brought. Either way, there's more wasted time/resources and less profit to go around.

Add to that tourist frustration and resentment and clear legal implications and etc, and truly, these guys are signing their own death certificate.

Might add that you'll probably find relatively few places in nations where roads are decent and most of the population has been driving private cars for decades, where people are still hiring taxis / drivers to take them on multi-day holiday sightseeing tours. 40+ years ago my grandparents rented a self-drive to tour Europe. India's quickly becoming a more similar sort of place; Very likely, the writing's on the wall, and if traditional, protectionist operators hope to preserve what will later almost certainly be a niche market, they'd better start thinking of someone but themselves, and beyond the short-term.

Thanks,
-Eric

[drive2eternity]

This is one surprising article !
While the local taxi operators have the right to make a living, they cannot be allowed to set up a monopoly. If you are into a business, you have to beat your competitor. Its like an IT Consultant (me) crying foul if another Software professional is hired by the company . And I definitely feel the other local businesses will suffer. Example, I have been planning to drive to Leh and back from Delhi in a rented XUV. I would never go in a cab. If I wanted to do that, I would have completed the trip long ago.

It is unfortunate that monopolistic thoughts are being promoted by the Govt.
The self drive businesses are blooming and I was expecting their pricing to become more competitive (read cheaper) by the day. Also, getting better vehicles and more options for cars being offered on rent.
Hope some sense prevails and petrol heads get to rent their choicest cars and drive to such pristine destinations as always.

[mustysekhon]

A break down of law and order. Unfortunately even the administration doesn't have the appetite to enforce civil rights.

Won't be long when they ban outside cameras as well!

[mayankk]

People should start calling up the local hotels, ask them about dates, and then cancel the trip after saying they heard about not being allowed to come there in self-drives. That should get the locals hounding the taxi-union.
Seriously, all charm of planning a leh drive and accomplishing it has fizzled out. Can someone suggest another good drive?

[gragusha]

Originally Posted by mayankk

People should start calling up the local hotels, ask them about dates, and then cancel the trip after saying they heard about not being allowed to come there in self-drives. That should get the locals hounding the taxi-union.
Seriously, all charm of planning a leh drive and accomplishing it has fizzled out. Can someone suggest another good drive?

Interesting suggestion. I think that as a percentage of the local tourist economy (hotels, restaurant, shopping, ancillary services), taxis might only be a small percentage - guessing 20-30%.

I understand not allowing outside operators to operate the local circuits (not that I agree with it), but not allowing tourists in self drive car / motor cycles is very high handed and is definitely going to hurt the local economy.

For a large number of tourists who stay far away - south and east India, getting your own vehicle means adding another 2500 to 4000 km and 4-6 days to the trip which is not easy. With advent of self drive rentals in India, the Himalayas were becoming accessible to a much larger set of people, in turn benefiting the economy of far-flung areas.

I am planning to go the Ladakh this July and since I am from Mumbai, getting the car there was a challenge (adding 6-7 days to the already long itinerary). Almost opted for a self drive rental, but finally decided to fly to Chandigarh and send the car with the driver there. If I was planning to do a self drive rental, I would most probably have cancelled the trip. If this continues, this might be my last trip to Ladakh.

I am sure, sooner or later the local tourist industry in Ladakh is going to realize that banning self drive rentals will hurt them - maybe we need to find ways of letting them know.

[Dushie]

Was in Ladkah last week. Took a Zoom car XUV for 15 days both in J&K and in Leh they were stopping vehicles from local sightseeing. Folks were being forced to park their self drive cars and hire cabs or rent bikes.

We also had to follow suit and rent bikes for Pangong Tso. Saw many zoom cars parked and also one was damaged where its rear window was broken by the local drivers. They were threatening self drive car owners with dire consequences to vehicle and life if anyone took the risk of driving the same.

For Nubra valley we rented a cab. For 5 days our self drive vehicle was parked in Ladkah and it gathered dust. Finally for the last leg of our trip we decided to take a risk. The taxi union check the vehicles at Karu to find out where folks are travelling. We told them we are heading back to Manali. So they let us go. Post reaching Upshi we paid the tax and took the road to Tso Moriri. There were not too many taxis on the way and we enjoyed the drive. The next day we drove from Tso Moriri towards Manali and did not face any issues.

This way we ended up saving time and money by not renting a taxi for Tso Moriri. As we all were guys and no family we took the risk and it paid off. But the situation is bad as even on our return to Manali we saw plenty of Zoom cars, Scorpio & Xuv heading towards leh unaware of what is happening. They will only get to know the exact status once they reach Leh and start sightseeing.

[rahulk2510]

Just got the following mail from zoomcar regarding the thread subject:

Dear Zoomcar User,
We have an important information to share.

It has come to our knowledge that taxi union in Ladakh is not permitting non-local vehicles (including self-drive rental cars or private cabs) from plying to certain destinations such as Khardung La and Nubra Valley, and instead tourists are being forced to use the services of local cab operators.

While we condemn the incident and regret the inconvenience caused to our customers, we would like to inform you that Zoomcar has an ‘All India Permit’ and adheres to all compliance related statutory regulations with regard to plying in any part of India.

Users are still free to drive on highways to reach Leh either from Manali or Srinagar. However, in lieu of forced restriction put forth by local taxi union, we advise our customers to exercise caution if they are travelling to Ladakh and prepare accordingly.

In case of any query please feel free to reach out to our Delhi Support team (delhi.support@zoomcar.com).


Thanks,
Zoomcar Team

Regards,
Rahul K

[Dushie]

Originally Posted by rahulk2510

Just got the following mail from zoomcar regarding the thread subject:

Dear Zoomcar User,
We have an important information to share.

It has come to our knowledge that taxi union in Ladakh is not permitting non-local vehicles (including self-drive rental cars or private cabs) from plying to certain destinations such as Khardung La and Nubra Valley, and instead tourists are being forced to use the services of local cab operators.

While we condemn the incident and regret the inconvenience caused to our customers, we would like to inform you that Zoomcar has an ‘All India Permit’ and adheres to all compliance related statutory regulations with regard to plying in any part of India.

Users are still free to drive on highways to reach Leh either from Manali or Srinagar. However, in lieu of forced restriction put forth by local taxi union, we advise our customers to exercise caution if they are travelling to Ladakh and prepare accordingly.

In case of any query please feel free to reach out to our Delhi Support team (delhi.support@zoomcar.com).


Thanks,
Zoomcar Team

Regards,
Rahul K

Yes, they have provided accurate information. As we also gave them the same feedback when we returned our vehicle. It's good to see them acknowledging the same, not keeping customers in dark. But their cars are pretty new and it was fun to drive the Xuv. We did not have any breakdowns or any issues. Overall experience was good.

[apachelongbow]

Originally Posted by bullrun87

More bad news for ladakh travellers
"Ladakh's connectivity with rest of India could get curtailed with the union of Air India (domestic) pilots asking its members not to operate flights to Leh. The Indian Commercial Pilots' Association (ICPA) took this move after a private airline complained against AI and another airline for landing in Leh without meeting the minimum visibility conditions of this high altitude airport."


http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/i...w/47858043.cms

Leh is a risky airport to operate. It is at high altitude which blunts aircraft performance, especially with an engine failure, during takeoff. The payload has to be restricted and the weather is also marginal, because it requires a visibility limit of 8 kms or more, for the pilot to adequately sight terrain and navigate visually, since the airport is surrounded by high terrain. The airport is usable only till about 11am because after that the winds make it too tricky to takeoff or land. So DGCA has a strict set of rules to allow a takeoff or landing at Leh. apparently air India and go airline pilots had a loose interpretation of laws when they operated which was exposed by a jet pilot. Now that an enquiry is in place, air India being themselves are sulking and decide not to fly to Leh anymore.

People who will suffer with closure of air services are the locals themselves. No food, no staples and no supplies especially when the roads are closed in winter.

[sindabad.sailor]

I have seen this rampant in GOa.

The Royal goan resort in Haathi Mahal has loads of local taxis outside that do not allow any other taxis.

Doodhsagar falls can't be visited in your own SUV, need to hire Boleros from local association.

I don' think it is unheard of in India

[wanderer4x4]

Just received the following mail from Zoomcars regarding Ladakh travel. (Though nothing new) It could be that many people have started to take Zoomcars or such self drives from Delhi and now those infamous Ladakh taxi unions have started to escalate the issue, for Zoomcars to come out with this formal communication. Just hope that this does not spill over to private vehicles.

Note from Support - Post copied to this thread also.

[mattyf1]

Also just read this in the FB group of The Himalayan Club.. No Tourism, No Adventure activities and No 2 wheeler at Rhotang Pass..

Source: Facebook

[SwatiS]

Originally Posted by tsk1979

Yes, you definitely can drive to Ladakh. Not someday. But today. Only you cannot do that in a Zoomcar or Carzonrent, or Hertz

I currently do not have the driving skills to attempt Ladakh .
I have been there on a trip, have trekked there, also rode a bike there. Seeing the beauty of the place, I always wished I could also drive there.
But as mentioned by many others, it's not possible for me to drive in my own vehicle from Bangalore to Ladakh as it would add to the travel time plus I would probably want to drive there in a SUV which I do not own. I cannot afford to buy a SUV just to drive to Ladakh.
I found the Ladakhi people to be a really sweet bunch, much in contrast with the Kashmiris. I have really nice memories of the place and I am still in contact with our taxi guy who had become our friend.
Sadly, this news is making me reevaluate my generalization of the locals there.