Fake rescues hurt Himalayan tourism

The arrest on 25 January of six people on charges of insurance fraud has brought the scandal of fake helicopter rescue of trekkers in Nepal to the fore once more, denting the image of the tourism industry.

Trekking companies, helicopter operators and hospitals were said to be in cahoots to carry out medical evacuations that were not necessary. In some cases, even the rescues were said to be fake with false names of ‘patients’ and their ailments.

The six who were arrested were charged by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CIB) with cheating insurance companiesof millions of dollars in the past four years with more than 300 fake chopper medevacs from the base of Himalayan peaks to hospitals in Kathmandu.

Nepali personnel of three companies, Nepal Charter Service, Everest Experience and Mountain Rescue were accused of heavily overcharging  for fraudulent rescues, faking or inflating medical bills, and claiming payment of over $18 million over the years, the CIB said. 

In some cases, trekkers themselves who do not want to walk back along the same trail to Everest Base Camp or other routes, and pretend to be sick, are also said to be involved in the scam.

“Tourism will attract opportunists, that is true everywhere,” explains Raj Gyawali of socialtours and a partner of Ethical Travel Portal. “Our responsibility as an industry is to weed them out, protect what matters, and keep tourism rooted in passion, integrity, and long-term value.”

The scam got wide international attention, and tainted the reputation of Nepal’s mountain tourism sector that employs up to 1 million people. International media headlined allegations that trekker food was spiked to cause diarrhoea to force evacuations.

Despite the bad publicity, tourism operators see a silver lining. It shows that Nepal is cleaning up its act and the system is working. Besides, the cheaters are in a minority in an industry that provides some of the best organised and most experienced mountain tourism service in the world.

“After years of talk and investigation, we are now seeing arrests and it’s encouraging to finally see action. This didn’t happen overnight,” Gyawali says. “The post GenZ interim government works with much less politics, we are seeing a functional system for the first time in decades in Nepal.” 

This is not a new story. Nepali Times first covered trekking insurance scams in 2013, following up on an investigation by the British Mountaineering Council in Summit magazine about insurance fraud involving fake helicopter rescues.

In another news item published in this paper in 2018 cited an investigation by insurance watchdog Traveller Assist which showed that a third of the 1,600 helicopter rescues in Nepal that year were fraudulent, costing up to $4 million. Insurance companies gave the Nepal government an ultimatum to clean up its act, and an investigation committee was formed and 13 companies said to be involved were named.

It now looks like although insurance fraud declined, it was still continuing to some extent till 2025. In the cut-throat competition in Nepal’s mountain tourism industry, companies undercut each other, and there are some trying to make a quick buck. These rotten apples spoil the whole barrel.

Given Nepal’s remote terrain and extreme weather along Himalayan trekking routes, helicopter rescues are vital in saving hundreds of lives every year, rescuing trekkers and mountaineers suffering from acute mountain sickness, stomach or lung infections.

“Nepal has a unique advantage over other Himalayan countries like India,  Bhutan, Pakistan or China because it allows private helicopter companies to conduct rescues,” Gyawali says. “This makes rescues faster and more accessible, often life-saving.”

The real problem is that sometimes rescues take too long because of  permission needed from multiple government agencies to conduct rescues near the Chinese border, which is considered sensitive. Last year, a mountaineer died on Himlung Himal because a helicopter company could not get clearance in time for a rescue.