India, Nov. 4 -- Every year, thousands of North Indian families hand over their savings-sometimes Rs.4 lakh, sometimes Rs.40 lakh or more-to anyone promising a foreign visa, college admission, or job. Many are cheated, losing their money to operators who vanish the moment a complaint is filed.

This crisis does not exist because Punjab lacks legislation. The Punjab Travel Professionals' Regulation Act has been on the books in one form or another since 2012. It fails not because its punishments are lenient, but because its machinery was built to catch an offender who barely exists anymore, while exhausting its energy on consultants who already follow the rules.

Target touts

On paper, Punjab's licensing regime is exhaustive. It covers eig...