BENGALURU: An audit by the Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA) has revealed that 63% of all paying guest (PG) accommodations across the five city corporations are unauthorised. GBA has now issued show-cause notices to owners and operators of all such PG accommodations.
The audit was conducted following rulings by both the Karnataka High Court and Supreme Court recently on the issue. The GBA had deployed its health department and local engineers for the audit, which revealed that the city has 5,480 PG accommodations. Of them, 3,597 are under the ‘unlicensed category’.
The GBA’s health department, which is empowered to issue licences, said that as per a Urban Development Department (UDD) circular in 2025, PG accommodations situated on roads with less than 40 ft width, violating building plans, operating from residential areas, and having kitchens in the basement cannot be given trade licences and are termed unauthorised.
“Such buildings pose a risk to inmates. If there is any mishap, the onus has to be fixed on the assistant engineer, assistant executive engineer, joint commissioners, town planning officials, Bescom officials and health officials, besides owners and developers,” said a retired chief engineer. After the audit report was submitted, officials attended a special meeting with GBA Chief Commissioner M Maheshwar Rao last week. The officials said that buildings violating the rules have been served show-cause notices and they are waiting for further orders.
“Around 50,000 people from across the country who have come to study or work in the city may be living in these 3,000-plus PG accommodations. Any tough decision will impact them,” said a senior health officer of GBA. He added that the health department is waiting for further directions from the chief commissioner on steps to be taken.
Welcoming the notices, Girish Kumar Naidu, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Youth Wing leader from Bengaluru, said he raised a complaint against 13 such accommodations in 2024, but officials failed to act and continued to issue trade licences. This prompted him to escalate the issue to the Lokayukta.
“Following the complaint with the Lokayukta, FIRs were registered against 13 such accommodations. But the PG owners’ association obtained a stay, claiming that 25,000 PG centres will be impacted.
Based on an affidavit by the association, we prayed to the court for an audit of all the accommodations, as many of them are paying taxes in the residential category to both the corporation as well as Bengaluru Electricity Supply Company Limited (Bescom). The exchequer is losing around Rs 3,000 crore to 5,000 crore as these accommodations are not operating under the commercial category,” he said.
Sandeep Anirudhan, Convenor, Citizens’ Agenda for Bengaluru, said that the burgeoning illegal PG slums in Bengaluru are a glaring symptom of one malaise: lawlessness and the state’s inability to enforce the law.
“Today, it is an openly advertised fact that violating building by-laws and planning regulations in Bengaluru carries ‘NO’ risk of prosecution or enforcement. Bengaluru has become a paradise for lawlessness and unscrupulous violators. Unless the government takes drastic measures to change this reality, there is little hope of reining in illegal buildings and layouts,” he said.
He suggested legislating and establishing an autonomous civic law enforcement authority with adequate powers, resources and institutional independence. Its mandate should be straightforward. “Identify illegal buildings and layouts; confiscate or take them over through due legal process; demolish unlawful structures or rectify violations to bring them in compliance with the law; or demolish and construct law-abiding properties for auction or resale, or allocate them for social housing, wherever legally and practically feasible,” he opined.