Travelling can be liberating and many travel the world in and around them to explore and understand the world better. Many Indians travel to their neighbouring countries to do the same. Bhutan is often on the list of many of these 'explorers'. Apart from being a serene landlocked nation, Bhutan also offers Indians the incentive of not requiring a passport, let alone a visa.
X User Raises Question On 'Government Fee'
One X user, highlighting this aspect of travel to small nations, has accused a travel startup of 'scamming' travellers.
In a post on X, the user shared a screengrab of the transaction with the travel firm 'Atlys'. The user shared the photo with a remark, in which he said, "Bhutan is visa-free for Indians. Heck! You don’t even need a passport to visit. But @atlys charges Rs 18,000 for Bhutan Visa as government fees."
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Bhutan is visa free for Indians. Heck! You don’t even need a passport to visit.
But @atlys charges 18,000₹ for Bhutan Visa as government fees @peakxvpartners thanks for funding scamsters! great work on the due diligence pic.twitter.com/9BpOGyuqO9— Saurabh Sharma (@randomusements) October 21, 2024
In the post, he further went on tag venture capitalist group Peak XV partners. The user sardonically commented on the group's investment in Atlys, and said, "@peakxvpartners, thanks for funding scamsters! great work on the due diligence."
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Startup Untags Itself From Post
Furthermore, the user even claimed that the company in question responded to this allegation by untagging themselves from the post by the user.
Update: Atlys untagged themselves from this tweet and I cannot tag them in any tweets now.
This is how a startup funded by @peakxvpartners and @ElevCap works— Saurabh Sharma (@randomusements) October 21, 2024
The user added, "Update: Atlys untagged themselves from this tweet and I cannot tag them in any tweets now. This is how a startup funded by @peakxvpartners and @ElevCap works."
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Atlys Responds
Finally, the company did give the user a response after untagging themselves from the post. In response to the post, the company said, "Bhutan levies sustainable development fee of Rs 1200/day/person. The visa fees is charged is in accordance with SDF. You can check out same on the official website."
The user retorted and said, "If you are charging SDF, clearly mention that is SDF. You cannot claim it as “visa government fees”.
If it was SDF, there would have been an option for selecting the number of days of travel. You are charging flat Rs 18,000 from everyone. Clearly a scam.
The company further responded with a similar message but failed to give a clearer and more transparent breakdown of what the charges were and how they were cumulatively called 'government fees'.