Delhi: SDMC bans cross-gender massages, no new centres in residential areas

The official order for the policy, which has been in making from last two years, was issued by the municipal health officer of SDMC on Thursday October 7. The policy, which has been approved by the lieutenant governor, states that no new spa centres will be allowed in residential areas

The South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC) has banned cross-gender massage while also restricting the operation timings of spa/massage centres between 9 am and 9pm, as the civic body implemented new licence guidelines for such establishments.

SDMC has restricted timings for spas and massage centres between 9am and 9pm. (Vipin Kumar/HT PHOTO)

The official order for the policy, which has been in making from last two years, was issued by the municipal health officer of SDMC on Thursday October 7. The policy, which has been approved by the lieutenant governor, states that no new spa centres will be allowed in residential areas.

Inderjeet Sehrawat, the leader of the house in the south corporation, said the new policy has been reviewed and approved by LG Anil Baijal. “The new provisions will be applicable on all the establishments. The basic intent behind the policy is to weed out the illegal activities taking place in the garb of massage parlours,” he added.

Explaining the new policy, a senior public health department official said several new conditions have been added to the existing rules pertaining to hygiene and sanitation. “All these units will have to operate separate sections for men and women that should be clearly demarcated. The police verification of the owner/spa manager will also be mandatory. Similarly, the centre will have to maintain the record of IDs and phone numbers of all its customers in a register,” the official said.

Before the onset of Covid-19 pandemic in March 2020, there were more than 300 spa/massage centres across SDMC areas such as Mohan Garden, Rajouri Garden, Dwarka Mor, Uttam Nagar, Dwarka. The office order states that new permissions will be granted only in commercial and mixed land use areas.

“All establishments, which have more than 10 employees, will be required to constitute a sexual harassment complaints committee. There should be CCTV cameras in common areas, and there shall be no latchet or bolt inside the chambers,” the policy states.

On August 2, the Delhi government also laid out strict guidelines to regulate the operations of spas and massage centres in the city, including mandatorily obtaining a police clearance for all employees and limiting operational hours from 9am to 9pm, to ensure security of clients and the employees, and also to prevent sexual abuse, trafficking, and cross-gender massage.

Earlier, the east corporation had issued similar guidelines for spa/massage centres on September 22, 2021 and the north body is also expected to follow its counterparts soon.

Spa owners, however, said the new regulations were “regressive”.

Pooja Chaterjee, the president of Delhi Wellness Spa Association said that they oppose the regressive changes incorporated in the new policy. “We have already challenged the policy in the Delhi high court, and we have faith that court will grant us relief. These changes will completely destroy the trade. The policymakers are acting like children by banning cross-gender massage. Don’t we allow male and female doctors to work in hospitals?,” she asked.

Chaterjee said that many provisions in the policy are completely impractical and unimplementable. “So many people will lose employment because many provision cannot be fulfilled. Who will modify the structures to make separate entries and sections?”

Vikram Soni, the secretary of the DWSA who runs a spa centre in Patel Nagar, said the civic body should not have issued guidelines when the matter is already pending in court.

“You can forcefully implement a policy. It violates the rights of thousands of employees in this trade. They are taking away the employment from the workers. We should have a pan-India uniform policy,” Soni said.