Voicing a grievance and seeking out help in case something goes wrong on your holiday in Himachal Pradesh is only a matter of an SMS now. As easy as sending a Santa Banta joke through your phone. Visitors to the state can now SMS their complaint – regarding a travel agent, transport operator, a hotel or a tourist guide agency – directly to the state’s tourism department. The complaint will be addressed promptly and the sender will receive a confirmation SMS.

The number on which the SMS has to be sent: 51969

The format: Type ‘HP tour’ and follow it with the details of your complaint.

Himachal is one of the most popular tourist destinations in the country. It receives scores of visitors every year—last year, the official count was 1.61 crore, and that includes around 5 lakh foreigners. Now with that whopping a figure, the tourism infrastructure is sure to always be on a roll. While tourist traps are not common since the state earns majority of its revenue from tourism, mismanagement and inefficiency surely is.

The SMS complaint facility is a much desirable service since no one wants to go through a tedious process involving government officials and long queues while on a holiday. And it’s not just complaints that one can register through SMS, they can also seek out assistance from the state tourism department. Of course, they’d help you if you are not able to find a decent hotel at night in peak season.

It remains to be seen how efficient the service would be, given the state of all government services in the country. Sadly, there is no service where you can complain about the poor complaint service.