Paying Guest owners should install CCTVs: Bengaluru Police

Bengaluru:  Now, paying guest accommodation in the city will have CCTV cameras at the entrance. After the police and BBMP were criticised for doing very little for the security of paying guests in the city, the commissioner of police has directed all those who let out PG accommodation to follow a few guidelines. Besides CCTV cameras, they will also have to employ a security guard and maintain a bio-data of their tenants.

The police, all this while, never had any consolidated list of authorised PGs. After the rising number of crimes in the city, they have finally woken up to the situation. Most of those who have PGs in Bengaluru are unauthorised and are conducting business without any licence. Last year, BBMP corporator Ramesh conducted a study where he revealed that the city has over 8,000 paying guests, while PGs with licenses were just 272.

Honeshwar, a police constable who does his beat rounds in Koramangala said, “We have been doing the rounds from Wednesday and serving notices to all the PG owners. We are also informing them of the rules that need to be followed. Since there have been a number of crimes against paying guests recently, and many criminals used to stay in these PG accommodations, these guidelines have been issued.”

The guidelines make it mandatory for the owners to have a trade licence, install CCTV cameras at the entrance, maintain details of the occupants and have at least one security guard at every PG.

About the drive, Alok Kumar (Law and Order) said, “These directions were issued 4-5 months ago and we are ensuring that all the PG owners follow them without fail. However, no deadline has been set as of now. We will follow up and keep track of all the PGs in the city.”

Under Schedule 10, part II of the Karnataka Municipal Corporation Act 1976, PG accommodation owners are supposed to procure a trade license from the BBMP Health Department. Besides, it is the duty of the owners to come forward and give details of their occupants. Among the details required are: number of family members, their place of work, a photograph, their native place and a copy of the rental agreement. Unfortunately,  until and unless a problem or situation comes up, owners rarely bother to follow these guidelines.

BBMP Commissioner Lakshminarayan said, “It is a fact that many owners are running paying guests without trade licences. It is a major issue. We are working towards it and if we find people conducting business without the trade licence, we will take action.”