On the directives of Jalandhar Deputy Commissioner Vishesh Sarangal, teams led by Sub Divisional Magistrates on Tuesday conducted surprise checking at immigration firms falling within their jurisdiction to ensure strict compliance of norms laid down under Punjab Travel Professionals Regulation Act.
Divulging the details, the deputy commissioner said that a drive has been launched to check the licenses and other documentation of immigration firms/consultants/IELTS institutes so as to ensure that they were transacting their business as per the provisions of the Act. He further mentioned that earlier he had formed sub-division level teams to carry out this mammoth exercise to check every single immigration firm in the district. “We have told the immigration firms to comply with the provisions of the Punjab Travel Professionals Regulation Act, and rules framed under this Act, else strict action would be initiated against those running their business violating the provisions of the Act”, he added. He also said this inspection will continue for the next few days and if any firm was found violating the law or operating without a license, strict action will be taken against its owner.
SDM-I Vikas Heera and SDM-II Balbir Raj Singh conducted surprise inspections at the premises of immigration firms/IELTS institutes in the city while other Sub Divisional Magistrates also carried out checking in their respective sub divisions. Mr. Sarangal said that these teams were ensuring that the firms running their immigration business have obtained licenses from the district administration besides checking other necessary formalities on the part of the license holder firms. He stated that all the firms are duty-bound to submit their monthly business reports with the district administration besides maintain proper record of their customers. The DC also urged the students to approach only those travel agents who had a valid license issued by the district administration. He also appealed to all the travel agents to get licenses issued from the administration for carrying out their work. He reiterated that the administration would not allow anyone to dupe the innocent people on pretext of sending them abroad.