Entrepreneurs in Delhi’s hospitality sector can now apply for different licences on a unified portal instead of filing separate affidavits and getting clearances from five agencies, lieutenant governor VK Saxena said while launching the modified unified portal at New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) headquarters on Jaisingh Road on Tuesday
The entire process of granting and renewing licences is now online and faceless and will have to be completed within 49 days from the receipt of the application, Saxena said, adding if the licence is not issued within that period, it will be deemed to have been issued automatically.
According to officials, this process earlier took up to five months. “This much-simplified single window portal will help entrepreneurs, businessmen and start-ups in the hospitality sector by ensuring that a single form enables them to get/renew licences from five different licensing agencies including Delhi Police, Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD), NDMC, Delhi Fire Service (DFS) and Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) simultaneously within 49 days.”
Addressing a gathering of restaurateurs, hoteliers and others, he said that this major step has reformed simplified and overhauled a regulation that had been existing since 1980. “It is on the lines of Prime Minister’s dictum of ‘Ease of Doing Business’ that will give a fillip to the 24x7 economy in the national Capital. Since the existing licence regime in the city was found to be restrictive in terms of the requirements and demands of the entrepreneurs and people, a high-level committee of top officials was constituted to ease it,” he said.
The LG also said that experiments such as extending the timings of operations by eateries and restaurants in the city and clubs run by the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) had been encouraging. “Similarly, alfresco and dining on terraces were allowed. Residents of the city, who were going to establishments in Noida, Gurugram and other neighbouring places, now have got an option to patronize establishments in Delhi itself. With the modified portal, the entire process of granting and renewal of licences has been made completely online and faceless. Establishments in the hospitality sector will now be able to get their licences or renew them by submitting a much shorter, simpler and user-friendly Common Application Form (CAF) on the portal. This CAF will be applicable for all five licensing bodies, in which as many as 140 fields have been removed and uploading of 28 documents has been done away with. Instead of giving five separate affidavits in the earlier system, the applicants will now have to submit a single common undertaking for all five agencies,” he said.
{{/usCountry}}The LG also said that experiments such as extending the timings of operations by eateries and restaurants in the city and clubs run by the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) had been encouraging. “Similarly, alfresco and dining on terraces were allowed. Residents of the city, who were going to establishments in Noida, Gurugram and other neighbouring places, now have got an option to patronize establishments in Delhi itself. With the modified portal, the entire process of granting and renewal of licences has been made completely online and faceless. Establishments in the hospitality sector will now be able to get their licences or renew them by submitting a much shorter, simpler and user-friendly Common Application Form (CAF) on the portal. This CAF will be applicable for all five licensing bodies, in which as many as 140 fields have been removed and uploading of 28 documents has been done away with. Instead of giving five separate affidavits in the earlier system, the applicants will now have to submit a single common undertaking for all five agencies,” he said.
{{/usCountry}}Saxena said that the validity of licences has been made coterminous for all agencies and has been extended to three years. “Earlier, the validity varied from one to five years for different agencies, and that any time, an applicant had to run around for getting these renewed in a haphazard manner. To make the system transparent and accountable, timelines for grant or renewal have been fixed for all agencies and responsibility will be fixed in case of delays. The number of documents required for a fresh licence has been reduced from 52 to 24 and zero from 25 in the case of renewal. All payments will be made online, and applicants will be able to download the licence certificates online,” he said and added that agencies will be able to formulate and notify far more enabling norms with regards to discotheques, musicals and entertainment for the entrepreneurs and start-ups of this segment within a month.
Entrepreneurs and businessmen in the city welcomed the news. Ankur Gambhir, who runs a restobar in Malviya Nagar, said that the unified portal will also check corruption. “Earlier, entrepreneurs had to make several rounds of different offices to grease the palms of babus to get different licences. But the new portal gives us hope,” he said.
Rajesh Jha, manager of a Paharganj-based hotel said he hoped for processes to speed up. “We had applied for in-hotel dining licence, months ago, but are still waiting. Now, we hope to get it soon,” he said.
Stay updated with all top Cities including, Bengaluru, Delhi, Mumbai and more across India. Stay informed on the latest happenings in World News along with Delhi Election 2025 and Delhi Election Result 2025 Live, New Delhi Election Result Live, Kalkaji Election Result Live at Hindustan Times.
Stay updated with all top Cities including, Bengaluru, Delhi, Mumbai and more across India. Stay informed on the latest happenings in World News along with Delhi Election 2025 and Delhi Election Result 2025 Live, New Delhi Election Result Live, Kalkaji Election Result Live at Hindustan Times.