lodeInside Nepal's Fake Rescue Racket
https://kathmandupost.com/money/2026/03/27/inside-nepal-s-fake-rescue-racket
“Wasn’t the system supposed to be fixed?“
Why would it be fixed? Insurance companies aren’t willing to invest in oversight, and everyone else profit, there is no incentive for changing the system.
If the cost to an individual insurance company is low enough (in the few millions) and they're not really at risk of it suddenly exploding, and the cost for them to mitigate is also in the millions (or risks killing a customer), they're unlikely to improve. Fight Club, but the other way around.
However, if they all gang up together they might do something - but that can cause other issues (a local insurer becomes the only insurance available, etc).
Nepal is a low income and high corruption country, where the government and formal business structures are unstable enough that 'tipping' becomes common even for government investigators...
It's basically a way for everyone to get more tourists dollars, which is one of Nepals primary exports.
Scamming bored rich people is one of the more victimless crimes.
Why don't they just charge [more] for a mountain license? A few thousand per hiker would probably be tolerated by people who view the hike as a lifetime achievement kind of thing.