About 70% of Gurugram’s 2,000 guesthouses are illegal, reveals government survey
GURUGRAM: Occupying more than 100 acres of land in prime sectors of the city, around 1,400
illegal guesthouses are doing big business round the year. A survey by the department of town
and country planning (DTCP) has found that a total of 2,080 guesthouses, both legal and
unauthorised, are operating within the city limits.
In total, these guesthouses occupy around 145 acres of land in prime sectors.
“Nearly 70% of guesthouses are running illegally in violation of the provisions of the guesthouse
policy of the state government. This office has already initiated the necessary action against the
illegal guesthouses and many of them have obtained status quo/stay on the property from the
court,” the report, which came out recently while the survey was carried out in September this
year, stated.
In a letter to DTCP director general TL Satyaprakash, district town planner (enforcement) Amit
Madholia said despite there being various hotels in the city, these guesthouses in residential
areas are functioning as an alternate facility to the various medical, IT and industrial companies
set up in Gurgaon. “During the survey and examination of records, it has been found that the
occupancy level of these guesthouses is almost 90% round the year,” he said, attaching a copy
of the report.
Madholia further said the data obtained from the survey hints that there is a demand for a huge
number of rooms for various purposes, including the influx of foreigners from different countries
for medical tourism. “Therefore, it is highly recommended that a logical solution to accommodate
the various guesthouses in residential colonies is now an utter need for the city and, accordingly
the policy for the guesthouses may be suitably be amended”, he said in the letter to
Satyaprakash.
Meanwhile, Millennium City Guesthouse Association has requested the authorities that the
provisions for guesthouses and paying guest accommodations as approved in Delhi Master
Plan be adopted in Haryana.
Talking about the differences in guesthouse norms in the two states, Sunil Bawa, the
association’s vice-president, said: “As per the state policy, a guesthouse can be constructed on
plots with a minimum size of 500 sq yards which are situated on a 24-metre wide road or a
sector road with a service lane. Also, there is an area capping of 1.25 acres per sector for
guesthouses.”
“Whereas in Delhi, there is no capping on density of guesthouses and these can be constructed
on 200 sq yard plots located along 18m-wide roads. Gurgaon has more corporate companies
and higher footfall of foreigners for medical services compared to the national capital, so it
needs relaxations in the existing policy,” Bawa added. Illegal accommodations started
mushrooming soon after the government issued bed and breakfast (B&B) licences during the
Commonwealth Games in 2010. The lacklustre attitude of the enforcement agencies, be
it HSVP or MCG, further worsened the situation. According to sources, approximately 100
licences were given out under the B&B scheme in Gurgaon, but many owners started running
full-fledged guest houses under the same licence.
“There is a very thin line separating a B&B place and a guesthouse. In a B&B, the owner lives in
the same house and provides a maximum of five rooms. Unfortunately, some owners are running guesthouses of 10 or 15 rooms under this scheme by getting around the rules,” said a
B&B provider.
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