The authorities of the Kaziranga National Park and Tiger Reserve (KNP&TR) have taken the decision to switch over to online ticketing for jeep as well as elephant safaris from April. and no cash transaction will be allowed from this month, Park officials said on Thursday.
 All the Jeep Safari Associations/Safari operators, hotels, resorts and guest houses in Kaziranga will have to register themselves and their vehicles on the website www.kazirangasafari.in on or before April 15, Divisional Forest Officer Ramesh Kumar Gogoi said.
  The vehicles not registered on the website and without the system generated E-tickets will be denied entry to the Park from April 16.
All concerned operators are also requested to create an account in PayTM e-wallet on or before this date and the jeep hiring amount collected online will be transferred to their e-wallet accounts on the next day of the trip, excluding any holidays, Gogoi said.
   The money can be withdrawn and transferred from the e-wallet to one’s own bank account anytime without any additional charges.
   The tourists can book both jeep and elephant safari in advance from the above mentioned website, from any of the jeep safari association counters or official counters in all the four ranges of Kohora, Bagori, Agoratoli and Burapahar or from the hotels, resorts and guest houses with proper Operator ID, he said. 
All e-tickets booked online through the website will have to be produced by the visitor at least one hour before the scheduled departure at the respective Jeep Association Counter/Official counter mentioned in the E-ticket for allotment of the jeep or elephant.
   The E-ticket price will include all the components including vehicle rent, service charges, contributions towards security, welfare schemes, tourism development and all taxes such as park entry fees, road taxes and any other fee as decided by the KNP&TR authorities from time to time, he said.
   E-tickets booked online through website may be cancelled at least one day before the scheduled departure time for which partial refund at different rates will be made till 12 hours before the safari time but no refund will be possible within 12 hours of the scheduled departure time.
   Gogoi said that a special initiative has been taken for providing free safari ride to physically handicapped, senior citizens, school children and people in the below poverty line categories,
   At least 20 per cent quota of the available safaris in specific time slots will be made available to such persons on humanitarian grounds, he added.Â
