Hotels/motels/guesthouses, restaurants, discotheques, amusement parks, and other establishments in Delhi will no longer need No-Objection Certificates (NOCs) from Delhi Police.
According to the new order of Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena, the Delhi Police has removed seven categories from its licensing system. This includes hotels/motels/guesthouses; restaurants or eating places; swimming pools; discotheques; video game arcades; amusement parks and auditoriums.
Rekha Gupta, the Delhi Chief Minister, said that municipal authorities and departments will be responsible for issuing licenses to these businesses. Municipal agencies like the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD), New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC), and Delhi Cantonment Board have already implemented policies to regulate this business. This extra layer is being removed in order to reduce the workload of the police and allow them to focus on their core duties.
Industry welcomes the move: For years, the hospitality industry has complained about the many approvals necessary to open or operate a business. K Syama Raju, president of the Federation of Hotel & Restaurant Associations of India (FHRAI), called the change a welcome step toward reducing red tape.
“A reduction in the compliance burden for the hospitality industry will go a very long way to encourage entrepreneurship and boost investor confidence,” said Raju. He also expressed the hope that Delhi would be followed by other states in reforming what he described as “archaic’ licensing systems.
Mark Hoplamazian, the CEO of Hyatt Hotels, had
