Hostels function without trade licences as per GHMC

Hyderabad: Hostels running in the city are functioning from rented buildings, which are meant for residential purpose. As per the GHMC norms, a hostel owner has to obtain a trade licence and pay commercial tax. However, to avoid paying commercial tax, the owners do not register with GHMC.

Meanwhile, the police said that despite the guidelines on safety measures, only 30 per cent hostels in the city have complied with it.

After the SR Nagar robbery suspect was caught from a private hostel, the police acted strict and conducted a survey on all the hostels of the city. The police also identified working men’s and women’s hostels and framed guidelines.

These guidelines include setting up of CCTVs, maintaining a visitors’ register, deploying a guard and informing the police about new admissions. 

“Earlier, we conducted special drives to regulate private hostels and penalised them. But there is a rapid increase in their number and a constant mechanism to monitor them should be brought in,” a senior GHMC official said.