BENGALURU: Failing to furnish details of foreign nationals staying on rent has landed 70 house owners in trouble. Foreigners Regional Registration Office (FRRO) mandates the house owners to provide details on their portal within 24 hours of renting out their premises to foreign nationals. The details have to be submitted in Form C.
Bengaluru City Police Commissioner B Dayananda, while briefing the arrest details of two models from Argentina and Brazil for overstaying in the country said that house owners who fail to furnish details will be booked as per law.
The two models identified as Lucos Henrique, 24, from Brazil and Samuel Daigeon, 23, from Argentina, were arrested by the CCB sleuths, and produced before the FRRO to complete the deportation formalities. Both of them had come on business visas and were overstaying for the last three months after the expiry in their visas. The police have also booked a case against their employer.
The owner of the house where the two stayed has also been booked for failing to furnish their details to the FRRO. According to section 7 of the Foreigners Act, the house owner must ensure that details of the occupants are recorded on the Indian FRRO online portal.
The Form C available on the website must be filled out compulsorily. The relevant documents and details must be retained by the owner. This requirement is crucial because, in many cases, foreign nationals have been involved in criminal activities or drug trafficking.
“The house owners have to keep a print out after the approval from FRRO. In the last four years, the city police have registered criminal cases against 70 owners for violating section 7 of the Foreigners Act. Out of 70 cases, 42 cases are under trial and one case pertaining to Bandepalya police station has ended in conviction with the penalty of Rs 5000. The remaining cases are under investigation,” said an officer.
