Tourists Visiting Kaza and Tabo will have to pay "SADA" Fee

Tourist vehicles coming to Special Area Development Authority "SADA" Kaza and Tabo of Spiti section of district Lahaul-Spiti will have to pay a SADA fee for entering. This fee will have to be paid by tourists from all over the country including tourists of Himachal Pradesh. This fee will be applicable from January 1, 2024 for which SADA Development Fee is being established in barrier communities. This decision was taken in the meeting of Special Area Development Authority SADA held on 24 November 2023 which was chaired by MLA Ravi Thakur.If any vehicle is found unmarked, strict action will be taken against it.

The reason behind this decision is said to be that due to day by day increasing tourist traffic in Kaza and Tabo, Special Area Development Authority “SADA” is facing financial shortage to maintain the smooth functioning of solid waste and sewage management etc. in the said areas. That is why the system of SADA Development Fee has been started for the convenience of tourists. It was decided in the meeting that private vehicles of RLA Spiti will be exempted from this fee. Along with this, it was also decided that apart from the private vehicles registered in Spiti RLA, local residents will not be charged even if their vehicles are registered in any other RLA of the country.

Barriers will be installed in Samudo and Losar

It was also decided in the meeting that toll will not be collected from the private vehicles of the local residents of Sumra village, adjacent to Spiti in Kinnaur district. In winter, SADA development fee will be collected only in Samudo, whereas in summer, after the opening of Kaza-Manali road, the barrier will also be installed in Losar, which will start on June 1, 2024. Persons will be appointed on outsourcing basis to collect fees. Before that, this work will be handled by the Public Works Department personnel under which the SADA Development Fee slip will be deducted for every vehicle. Giving information, SDM Kaza Harsh Amarendra Negi said that SAD Development Fee will be implemented from January 1, 2024. Taxi drivers of Lahaul-Spiti will also have to pay this fee.

Collected Fee Used in Various Purposes

The income collected from fees will be spent for various purposes, which include the following. Expenditure will be incurred for construction of public toilets, solar lights, CCTV cameras, hoarding boards, street lights and information boards etc.

Fee Chart

Two-wheeler Rs 100, car Rs 200, SUV, MUV Rs 300, bus and truck Rs 400. Annual fee rates have been fixed for taxi vehicles registered in RLA Spiti. You will have to pay Rs 2500 annually for big vehicles like Maxi and Traveler and Rs 1500 for small vehicles.