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Karnataka counts 4,000 registered homestays under 2025 rules
The Hindu··18 Sept
Karnataka has around 4,000 registered homestays under the revised Karnataka Homestay Registration Guidelines, 2025, Tourism Department officials told The Hindu. Registration is mandatory through the department portal or Seva Sindhu. The High Court urged stronger hospitality safety policies in June 2026. Kodagu Homestay Owners' Association president Monthi Ganesh said at least 2,000 Kodagu homestays are unauthorised.
Prism
What It Means For You
- Tourists in Karnataka are being told to prefer registered homestays over unlicensed stays.
- Hosts must use the Tourism Department or Seva Sindhu portals to register under the 2025 guidelines.
- District commissioners have been instructed to enforce the guidelines where homestays operate.
What's Happening
- Officials said about 4,000 homestays are registered statewide, clustered in Kodagu, Chikkamagaluru, Hassan, Shivamogga and Hampi.
- Guidelines date to 2006-07, with online registration tightened from June 2026 after safety incidents.
- Monthi Ganesh said brokers have taken guests to faraway places for as low as Rs 1,000 per person per day.
Why Enforcement Tightened
- A June 2026 High Court hearing on an alleged Kodagu homestay rape case pressed for multisector hospitality policies.
- Chikkamagaluru association head H.L. Giridhar said around 600 units are registered there while over a thousand are unauthorised.
- Associations assist licence inspections with officials when owners apply.
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