Shimla
The state government has made many major changes in the Home Stay Rules 2025. Homestay operators will now have to compulsorily take GST numbers and file returns. The registration fee for homestay has been increased from Rs 100 to Rs 3000, 300 times more. The government will now increase its revenue with the Home Stay Scheme started to provide employment to the unemployed. Under the Home Stay Rules, now the GST number will have to be given in the registration form itself. The GST number will have to be written in column 14 of the form. Till now, homestay operators were not required to take GST numbers. The government’s Home Stay Scheme was for unemployed people in rural areas, so the condition of GST on the lines of big businessmen was not in the scheme.
Now homestay operators will have to spend money to get GST numbers before registration and file GST returns every month. Whether there is income from homestay or not, people will have to visit chartered accountants to file GST returns. In the new provisions, arrangements will also have to be made for the disposal of garbage under municipal laws.
Firefighting equipment will also have to be installed compulsorily in homes. Complete records of guests coming to homestays will have to be kept in registers and computers. Passport details of foreign tourists will also have to be mandatorily recorded. It has also been made mandatory to install CCTV cameras in the common area of homestays. The government has notified the Home Stay Rules 2025 on February 14. People can send their objections and suggestions regarding these to the Director of Tourism and Civil Aviation, Himachal Pradesh, by February 28 by email at tourism@hp.gov.in or by post.
Devesh Kumar, Principal Secretary, Tourism and Civil Aviation, said that the Home Stay Rules 2025 have been published in the gazette. Objections and suggestions received within the stipulated period will be considered before finalizing the rules. In the Home Stay Rules, provision of parking, water closet toilet with toilet paper, facility of hot and cold water with sewerage connection, separate dining area, working table in addition to chairs and tables in the room, washing machine or dry-clean facility, refrigerator, lounge or sitting arrangement in the lobby area, heating and cooling arrangements in the rooms, security guard, promotion of Himachali handicrafts and Himachali architecture, encouragement of rainwater harvesting system have been included in the desirable category.
12,000 registration fee for 6 rooms in municipal corporation area.
Under the Home Stay Rules 2025, an annual registration fee of Rs 12,000 has been fixed for operating a homestay of 4 to 6 rooms in the municipal corporation area. A renewal fee of Rs 12,000 will also have to be paid every year. The annual registration and renewal fee has been fixed at Rs 8,000 in TCP, SADA, Nagar Panchayat area and Rs 6,000 in Panchayat area. For 1 to 3 rooms, the annual registration and renewal fee has been fixed at Rs 8,000 in Corporation area, Rs 5,000 in TCP, SADA, Nagar Panchayat area and Rs 3,000 in Panchayat area.
