Illegal PGs boom in Bengaluru due to lack of norms

Ramesh (name changed), an upcoming actor from Devanahalli, stays in a paying guest (PG) accommodation in Mahalakshmi Layout in Bengaluru. He pays Rs 4,600 monthly for his three-sharing accommodation, including three meals a day. He packs his food every morning, leaves for work, and returns at night to hit the sack after supper.

Bengaluru is home to lakhs of such youngsters aspiring to make a living or students focused on studies. Post-Covid, such migration to the city has increased, and Bengaluru is grappling to cope with the demand for accommodations, leading to a PG boom.

There are low-cost facilities in the city that start from Rs 4,500 per month. Depending on the rent, the infrastructure varies. The ones who pay minimum rent get a three- or four-sharing room, with common bathrooms and toilets for the entire floor and no privacy. Facilities like Wi-Fi, TV, etc., are sometimes a problem. Almost all PG accommodations offer food, which is included in the rent.

There are also corporate-run PG facilities, with apps for inmates, security features, flexible timings and better facilities. Such facilities generally are priced high, ranging from Rs 15,000 to Rs 25,000, with tags such as co-living spaces or executive PGs. These have offices in other cities and hire managers to run the facilities.

Concerns aplenty

Due to the booming office space market and inadequate residential spaces, the Whitefield area has seen exponential demand for low-cost accommodations post-Covid. In the absence of adequate regulation by the government, landlords convert land parcels and bifurcate them into smaller plots without approvals, common amenities, parking, parks, water treatment, garbage segregation facilities, etc., says a resident of Whitefield involved in studying the illegal PGs in the area.

Most such lands have B Khata, and the ward engineering department oversees construction on these lands. Ultimately, due to legal loopholes and bribery, illegal multi-floor structures are constructed with no regard to setbacks and BBMP’s building bylaws, says the resident. They are later converted into PG accommodations.

The owners who build such facilities either operate them themselves or rent them out. Sometimes, they outsource the operations. Usually, the ground floor parking is converted into a cafeteria; other floors become PG units.

Providing parking spaces, good food, and facilities becomes a big challenge for operators amid the city’s limited resources and how the buildings are planned. As a result, many such facilities fail to get trade licences, the only mandatory requirement to run a PG, issued by the Public Health Department in Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP). 

The central GST commission has categorised PGs as commercial, making GST of 18% mandatory. However, the BBMP does not define the right category for PG accommodations. Many PGs operate under the residential category, without commercial water or electricity connections, and do not treat sewage or segregate garbage even if a unit houses more than 30-40 people.

Many PGs avoid sharing PAN cards and collect rentals in cash to avoid taxes, leading to the circulation of black money.

“The government intervention can change a lot with affordable rental housing complexes, in a lot more efficient and equitable manner,” says a Whitefield resident.

Taking a toll on resources

Source segregation of waste is a problem with many PG accommodations. Despite generating more than 100 kg of waste daily, not getting qualified as a bulk waste generator is yet another issue.

One auto collects waste from 750 residential houses. One PG where 30-40 people live is considered as one unit, leading to unmanageable garbage in one auto. All these problems lead to commercial properties taking away facilities meant for residential purposes.

“The quality of life of residents living near PGs gets affected,” says R Rajagopalan, Convenor of Bengaluru Residents Welfare Association. The BBMP, being the urban local body, is supposed to act decisively, but it does not, as there are vested political interests behind the money that comes out of PG business, he adds.

“The primary issue is zoning, where and how they can operate a multi-dwelling unit, which affects density, parking, garbage collection, etc,” explains Rajagopalan. The Association has written to the BBMP asking the body to fix many of the issues around the PGs, such as their license to operate, zoning, taxation, and enforcement of rules.

“They were coming up in new areas like HSR Layout or Sarjapur; old buildings in old Bengaluru areas also make way for PGs. People apply for trade licences using a category called hostel, which has fewer restrictions. Zoning is not looked at when the license is given,” adds Rajagopalan.

Though the BBMP wants to work on fixing a framework to regulate PGs, sources say nothing much has been done so far.

Restricting the maximum number of guests per room, the number of washrooms/toilets, safety and health matters were to be looked into, and a framework has yet to come out.

BBMP officials say that as of November 2023, 2292 PG accommodations have taken trade licences from the BBMP. 

They claim to be visiting and checking the licences of PG accommodations and bringing more of them under the licence ambit. However, the city police say there are a minimum of 5,000 PGs in the city. 

The case for low-cost PGs

The PG Owners Welfare Association claims to have over 2,000 members. However, it estimates the number of people residing in PG accommodations is about 13-14 lakh. The Association president, Arunkumar D T, says that the body stands for the owners of affordable PGs ranging from Rs 5,000 to Rs 10,000 per month, focusing on students and unemployed or people with part-time jobs trying to settle in the city.

The association had reached out thrice to the chief minister, demanding that water and electricity bills be residential, not commercial. The CM’s office directed them to the respective authorities, Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board and Karnataka Electricity Regulatory Commission, who refused to consider the request.

“There are people who try to mint money investing in PG business, while there are also people who take up the PG business for livelihood, with smaller units and fewer people. We stand for the second category,” he explains. 

He says the bigger units with corporate structures and remote management are coming up in the areas where corporate entities have offices and premium education institutions run.

Arunkumar argues that smaller PGs should be classified as semi-commercial units.

“Those who live in PGs need not be well-off. People from various backgrounds, unemployed youth, students and people taking free government coaching for IAS or KAS examinations come and stay in such facilities. The burden of commercial rates cannot fall on such inmates; they cannot afford it,” he says, explaining the rationale behind the demands for semi-commercial charges. PG owners also must consider it as a social service, he adds.

Cops to register PGs and inmates by March 30

B Dayananda, Commissioner of Police for Bengaluru City, says a private portal is being used to update the details of paying guest accommodations in the city. The police did a successful trial in the Marathahalli area. Out of 1100 PGs in the Whitefield division, about 900 have been onboarded.

“This is the first such effort in the city. The city has over 5,000 PGs, and over 1,000 have been added to the portal. There is uniformity of data now. Until now, nobody knew who was staying in these PGs, who is going out; now, this information is available in the portal,” says Raman Gupta, Additional Commissioner of Police (East), Bengaluru.

The data on the private portal is accessible to the police, though not to the public. Now, the police aim to complete the registration of all the PGs in the city by March 30 by proactively approaching all the PGs in the city.

The police verification of inmates and registration is not mandatory yet. The police have issued a guideline as well, according to which:

BBMP’s trade licence is mandatory.

PGs must collect inmates' identification cards and their relatives' numbers and maintain visitor logs.

CCTV installation and fire safety steps are mandatory.

Consumption and storage of drugs is prohibited.

Background checks for the staff hired and maintenance of information.

Providing information of foreigner inmates to the nearest police station through Form C.

No use of loudspeakers between 10 pm to 6 am.

Essential phone numbers (local police station, emergency response (112), medical services (103), cybercrime (1930) must be displayed; First aid kits must be readily available.

The concerned owner or manager is responsible for any untoward incidents.