Govt puts a cap on booking online safari tickets in R’bore

Jaipur: The forest administration in Ranthambore National Park (RNP) has set a limit for tourists and travel agents to book safari tickets in advance through Single Sign-On (SSO).
According to the new limit, one can book a safari in advance six times using the SSO ID. The move is expected to bring transparency in safari bookings, which was allegedly controlled by agents in RNP. Earlier, there were no restrictions in booking any number of safaris in advance using one ID. Under the new system, advance online booking can be done only six times a month from one SSO ID. A senior official source familiar with the development said, “Agents booked all the seats in advance for their boarders under fake names and later sold these at a high price to tourists eager for a visit to the park. Now, after making advance online booking six times a month from one ID, booking will not be possible and one has to login with that ID only.”
Source said though there is a system in the software that prevents a particular person from making bulk bookings, these agents have a secret login and password that allows them to dodge the security system and give access to bulk bookings. “The park, after it opened from October 1, attracted many tourists as it is one of the best tiger reserves in the country. These tourists land in Ranthambore, but are unable to book themselves a seat on a safari vehicle. In desperation, they are willing to pay twice or even thrice the sum to go on a safari and this is where agents make their money,” sources say.
After the forest department also recently upgraded the online booking system claiming it will put an end to safari bookings having fake identities.
The new system has options including waitlist and others. A senior official said, “This step will stop the practice of booking vehicles with dummy names, cancelling dummy booking at odd hours and using vacancy created for booking with right names. In the new system that allows waitlist, cancellation of confirmed booking will not open new slots for fresh bookings, but will move waitlist booking to confirmed.”