Property Registration and Legal Permit in India

[Mansi0]

Hello all you wonderful hosts in India!

I hope you are having a great time hosting interesting people and shariang exciting experiences!

My question is about legality of hosting a property on Airbnb in India and the permits/registration required to do so. From Airbnb’s website, I understand that hosts are responsible for communicating this with the local government.  I have contacted the Ministry of Tourism office, here in Bangalore, who suggested registration of a property listing for home-stay or bed and breakfasts is not mandatory and establishments can be run without any restriction.

However, after going through the section under Responsible Hosting - Registration of Guests ( https://www.airbnb.co.in/help/responsible-hosting ), I believe the regulations in India require maintaining a register for guest check-in and check-out records. Furthermore, there are certain forms like Form C  and Form F , which property and listing details need to be mentioned. This contradicts the statement by the representative from the Ministry of Tourism and the ambiguity still prevails.

I would greatly appreciate if you could share your experiences and advise on how you have gone about the legality of your listing registration, permits and guest records.

Many thanks in advance!

Kind regards,

Mansi

[Supriya0]

Dear Sumeet9

Your clarifications are very encouraging.  Do the same laws hold for West Bengal? My property is in Kolkata. 

Is it mandatory to have a license from the government of India to be a Airbnb host here? 

I have been hosting in Kolkata for quite sometime now but I have no license. I never faced any problems with the building society in the past but lately  am facing objections from few members. I had stopped hosting since mid March because of the pandemic and planned to resume hosting in October when the government unlocked most activities and establishments. However when I informed the society of my plans few members raised objections citing dangers related to the current Covid situation. A couple of Committee members are now also saying that they will not allow me to host even in the future after the pandemic is over . Does the society have the authority to do this? 

Do I need to get a license for my Airbnb? 

Would be really grateful for your inputs.

Many thanks in advance.

[Vee-Gee0]

Is there any update if NOC is required from Society in India. And what about neighbours if they object?

[Mohana0]

Hi Koen Mohana here, do the same rules apply to apartment in mumbai? Or karjat too? Do stay in touch 🤗

[Vee-Gee0]

Any update from Koen?

[Koen1]

i Mohana, The government of Maharashtra has announced that it is working with AirBnB in rural areas.

Hence it is reasonable to assume that AirBnB is legal. But there may still be some regulations .My wife worked for the government tourism service for many years. When she visited the office in Mumbai she was given the stuff I shared earlier which does not appear to be mandatory.

Societies are a different matter...

So still looking for any guidance from authorities or AirBnB.

Now that they are working with government AirBnB is best placed to get this clarification ...

[Parvinder0]

Hello, my name is Parvinder  and I have been running air bnb in my apartment in the posh area Pali Hill of Mumbai since 2 years and I am a super host. today as per the society AGM they have strictly refused the air bnb hosting definitely as other people have also said it is a jealousy by other people in the society. just to share with you something I am on a wheelchair and this is a source of income for me I desperately need to get the sorted please can you help me how I can fight it out with them I would be in a real fix if this does not work.  please can you call me asap on
Not allowed but if you understand Please get in touch with me at **on(first letters of the digits of my phone number)

** i m trying ** hope it works **

**[Phone number hidden due to safety reasons - Community Center Guidelines]

[Akhilesh5]

@Parvinder0  hope your problem solved. Plz share ur no. How it is?

[Vasundhara4]

Hi @Mansi0 , I have a concern regarding the same.. 

I host a property in Mysuru and of neighbour is not happy with that, she keep saying she will raise a complaint in the local police station. 
Can you please help me with the paper work you did to keep the legal norms in place. 

[Pusparag0]

Hi,

Could someone help me with the latest legal requirements for Hosting. I have a spare room in my apartment which i am willing to utilize by hosting through Airbnb. But the unclarity of the legal rules is making me sweat. So please help! Is it necessary to register the space with department of tourism? I see many people in Mysore hosting their space but not sure if everyone has registered?

[Sanjay14]

Hi Pusparag,

Did you sort out your problems ? 

Apologies, but this is not relevent to your topic.

Could you please help me out on setting up host formalities in bangalore?

I have a 3 bed flat which is newly renovated to high standards.

Kind Regards,

Sanjay

[Natasha42]

Hi Mansi, 

I have had a similar problem with the society of my building. They haven't even heard of air bnb and are filing a claim against me stating that I am illegally putting listings on a website and getting money from it because it is a residential complex. They have something against foreign nationals and are very orthodox about the idea of having paying guests. I have asked a society and corporative lawyer in which he said it is not illegal to have tenants in your house or apartment or to sublet and there is a supreme court judgement that says so. I am taking it up with my society but until the time it gets solved, I'm not going to take new bookings as I do not want problems with my guests. Hope we can find a joint solution to the problems we are facing. 

Thanks, 

natasha 

[Pusparag0]

Hi Natasha,

I would be great if you could keep us posted on any update. I'll do the same too.

Thanks

[Amit33]

Hi, can we connect over phone and help each other to grow the hosting community in India?

[Amit33]

Hello Natasha,

I too foresee similar problem with my property in a housing society. It will be great if we can connect and help each other grow the Airbnb hosting community in Maharashtra.

You can reach me on nine one five eight five four seven one seven one

[Ajay9]

Hi amit

Can you share your number, we need to talk. my number **

all host who are facing problem in running homestays, we can form a group and file a case jointly, it will be an grat impact

regards

ajay

**[Phone number hidden due to safety reasons - Community Center Guidelines]