Highlights
- Delhi drafts new homestay regulation policy.
- Properties can offer up to eight rooms.
- Gold and silver categories proposed.
It puts properties into two buckets, gold and silver, depending on room size, hygiene, safety and service quality. Gold category rooms need at least 120-square-foot of space while silver rooms need a minimum of 100-square-foot. Authorities can walk in for inspections without any prior notice and have the power to suspend or blacklist registrations for repeated rule breaking. Running a restaurant, bar or banquet event inside the premises will not be allowed and neither will hotel-style signage.
"Delhi attracts a diverse set of domestic and international visitors throughout the year and many travelers now prefer smaller, community-based and more personalised accommodation over conventional hotels," a government official told The Economic Times. "The proposed B&B policy is aimed at creating a proper regulatory framework for such accommodation."
Safety is a big part of the new policy, especially for women traveling alone. Registered units will need to keep verified guest records, upload details on the tourism department portal and follow police verification rules. Fire extinguishers, smoke detectors and first aid kits will be a must and CCTV cameras are proposed for entrances and common areas in higher-category units.
The government also proposed taking the entire registration process online through the tourism department's portal, with approvals coming in most cases without any prior inspection. Only lawfully constructed residential premises will be eligible and applicants must either own the property or hold valid legal documents to operate it as a B&B establishment.
The B&B scheme is not new to Delhi. It first came around in 2007 and picked up some traction in its early years, but slowly faded as online platforms like Airbnb took over and traveler habits changed. A handful of registered units still run under the old rules, mostly tucked away in residential neighborhoods. The new policy is essentially a fresh attempt to bring the idea back in a more structured way.
Last year, Noida authorities issued notices to more than 100 flat owners in Supertech Supernova Society after finding unregistered B&B and homestay operations running like hotels without proper registration.
Separately, Delhi saw a hotel price surge ahead of the AI Impact Summit, triggering debate over regulation.
