Delhi LG launches portal for quick licencing of eating establishments

Delhi LG V K Saxena on Tuesday launched a single window portal for licencing of eating and boarding establishments, which he said would "boost" the night-time economy of the national capital.

The much simplified single window portal will help entrepreneurs, businessmen and start-ups in the hospitality sector ensuring that a single easy-to-fill form, enables them to get or renew licences from five different agencies simultaneously within a fixed timeframe of 49 days, said an official statement.

These agencies include the Delhi Police, Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD), New Delhi Municipal Committee (NDMC), Delhi fire service and Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC).

 

"Establishments will now be able to operate under a much simplified, minimal and enabling licencing regime, in the national capital," it said.

Saxena said this major step has "reformed, simplified and overhauled" a regulation that had been existing since 1980 and had become extremely obstructionist for the entrepreneurs in the hospitality sector.

After taking over as Lt. Governor, Saxena insisted upon providing impetus to the dictum of "ease of doing business," and giving a fillip to the 24x7 economy in Delhi.

Addressing the gathering of restaurateurs, hoteliers and others, he said enabling the hospitality sector with these simplified licencing norms would prove to be the first step in the direction of a "robust" night-time economy in Delhi.

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 under the principal secretary (Home), comprising top officers from all stakeholder departments was constituted to ease the same, Saxena said.

"The committee was able to complete its task in record time and the result is there for all of us to see in the shape of this 'modified unified portal' for licencing of eating & lodging or boarding establishments launched today," he said.

With this launch, 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.

In the new CAF, 140 fields have been removed and the uploading of 28 documents has been done away with. Instead of five affidavits that were supposed to be submitted earlier, the applicants will now have to submit a single common undertaking for all five agencies.

The requirement of documents for the renewal of licences has been minimised and no fresh documents, barring those whose validity has expired, will be required. The applicants will have to submit just a common undertaking.

Similarly, the validity of licences or NOCs 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 applicant had to run around for getting these renewed in a haphazard manner at any time.

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.

In any case, the entire process of granting or renewing licences will have to be completed within 49 days from the receipt of the application. In case, the licence is not granted or renewed within 49 days, it will be deemed to have been issued automatically.

This will be a vast improvement on the hitherto existing regulations that resulted in applications for licences remaining pending for three years in many cases apart from harassment to the applicants.

The number of documents required for the grant of a fresh licence has been reduced from 52 to 24. In the case of renewal, while 25 documents were required earlier, none will be required now. All payments will be made online and applicants will be able to download licence certificates.

The Lt. Governor informed that work was also on easing and liberalising the licencing norms for the amusement segment of the hospitality industry.

He said that within a month agencies will be able to formulate and notify far more enabling norms with regard to discotheques, musicals and entertainment for the entrepreneurs and start-ups of this segment.

"I hope that the simplifying and enabling licencing regime launched today through this unified portal will go a long way in promoting economic activity, as indeed fostering the much desired vibrant 'night-time economy' in the capital city of India, as it is in various other national and international cities," the LG said.

He also appealed to the users and beneficiaries of the sector to comply with regulations and adhere to the prescribed norms so as to make a success of the new regime.