<p>A new raft of Indian apps which offer rooms to unmarried couples are helping overturn traditional norms in a country where premarital sex remains a taboo.</p>.<p>From StayUncle and BreviStay, which offer hourly packages, to Softbank-funded Oyo, which allows users to search for couple-friendly hotels via its 'Relationship Mode', young entrepreneurs are tapping into a previously neglected market to lucrative effect.</p>.<p>The development is good news for Pooja, a Mumbai-based PR executive who tried to check in to a hotel with her then boyfriend in 2016 and found that the romantic experience quickly turned ugly as staff enquired about her marital status.</p>.<p>"I could feel them judging me," Pooja, whose name has been changed on her request, told AFP.</p>.<p>Stung by their questions, she decided to lie.</p>.<p>"We were both above 18 -- they had no reason to deny us a room, but it was all just so awkward," she said.</p>.<p>On any given evening in Mumbai, dozens of canoodling lovebirds can be spotted along the city's famous seafront, their backs to the slow-moving traffic as they seek out personal space in the world's second-most populous nation.</p>
<p>A new raft of Indian apps which offer rooms to unmarried couples are helping overturn traditional norms in a country where premarital sex remains a taboo.</p>.<p>From StayUncle and BreviStay, which offer hourly packages, to Softbank-funded Oyo, which allows users to search for couple-friendly hotels via its 'Relationship Mode', young entrepreneurs are tapping into a previously neglected market to lucrative effect.</p>.<p>The development is good news for Pooja, a Mumbai-based PR executive who tried to check in to a hotel with her then boyfriend in 2016 and found that the romantic experience quickly turned ugly as staff enquired about her marital status.</p>.<p>"I could feel them judging me," Pooja, whose name has been changed on her request, told AFP.</p>.<p>Stung by their questions, she decided to lie.</p>.<p>"We were both above 18 -- they had no reason to deny us a room, but it was all just so awkward," she said.</p>.<p>On any given evening in Mumbai, dozens of canoodling lovebirds can be spotted along the city's famous seafront, their backs to the slow-moving traffic as they seek out personal space in the world's second-most populous nation.</p>