The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court has ruled that one person should reside physically in a flat and host guests there to avail benefits under the Bed and Breakfast Scheme promoted by the state Tourism Department. 

As per the guidelines, the classification for Incredible India Bed and Breakfast/Homestay establishment will be given only in those cases where the owner/promoter of the setup, along with his/her family, is physically residing in the same establishment and letting out minimum one room and maximum six rooms, a Division Bench of Justice V Ramasubramanian and Justice V M Velumani said. 

The bench was allowing an appeal filed by T V Andal, a resident of Thathachariar Gardens (block of flats) at Srirangam in Tiruchirappalli district. 

In this case the owner of five apartments could not claim that he was residing physically in five apartments with his family. One person could reside physically only in one apartment, the bench said. 

The Tamil Nadu Tourism Department should not have granted permission on non-satisfaction of this condition. 

Under the Tamil Nadu Public Buildings (licencing) Act, if a person "lets out his entire apartment for the purpose of accommodating somebody and also for providing breakfast, the premises would come within the meaning of the expression "public building". Such a building required licence under Sec 3 of the act, the bench said. 

"If an apartment owner allows guests to stay in one room and also provides lunch or dinner, the same may not strictly come within the purview of the expression public buildings."

(You need to login first to read complete news).
New User? Register for FREE!
» Back to Travel News