Shillong, September 17 : The Motor Parivan Sewakarmi Sanmilita Mancha (MPSSM), a united platform of tourist transporters and operators across Assam, has announced a total non-cooperation movement from 5:00 a.m. on September 18, 2025, protesting restrictions imposed on Assam-registered tourist vehicles at several tourist spots in Meghalaya.
The MPSSM represents a broad coalition of associations, including tourist cab operators (Dzire, Tata Sumo, Innova, Travellers), long-distance bus services, truckers, and oil tanker drivers and owners. In a joint statement, President Kaushik Bhuyan and Secretary Anirban Goswami condemned what they termed the “unjustified and selfish demands” of the All Khasi Meghalaya Tourist Taxi Association (AKMTTA), which has reportedly been stopping and harassing tourist vehicles with valid interstate and all-India permits.
Despite prior intimation to the Meghalaya government on September 9 and 15, the MPSSM claimed that no meaningful action was taken to resolve the issue, prompting their call for a strike.
The MPSSM warned that their move to cease tourist vehicle services to Meghalaya would have cascading effects on the tourism-dependent economy. They cautioned that:
- Meghalaya-based taxi operators may struggle to pick up tourists arriving at Guwahati’s airport or railway station.
- Hotels, homestays, restaurants, street vendors, petrol pumps, toll gates, and sightseeing operators could face sharp declines in business.
- Social media amplification could lead to a long-term drop in tourist footfall.
Already, the association noted, many bookings have been cancelled, and travel agents are beginning to shift itineraries to other destinations such as Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Bhutan, and Ladakh.
The MPSSM urged the Meghalaya government to act swiftly, emphasizing that tourism is a shared, symbiotic industry built by decades of collaboration among hotels, guides, transporters, and local communities from Byrnihat to Dawki, Jowai, Sohra, and Shillong.
“If such barriers persist,” the statement warned, “tourists will boycott Meghalaya, and the state’s tourism sector will face a prolonged crisis.”
The call for non-cooperation is supported by a wide network of associations, including:
- Tourist Transporter Association of Assam
- Tour Operators Association of Assam
- Greater Guwahati Tourist Taxi Association
- All India Road Transport Federation, Assam
- Seven State Tourist Cab Operators Union
- All Guwahati Tourist Taxi Drivers Union
- Guwahati Airport Taxi Association
- Assam Petroleum Majdoor Union
- All Assam Day Night Super Bus Drivers Union, among others.
The MPSSM concluded by reaffirming that the tourism industry belongs to all stakeholders and cannot be undermined by what they described as a small group seeking “spoon-fed privileges” at the cost of collective growth.
This unfolding standoff now places Meghalaya’s peak tourist season at serious risk, with both states’ tourism economies hanging in the balance.
