Starting a Homestay in Arunachal Pradesh

01 / Executive finding

The practical starting point

• The Department of Tourism is actively maintaining a homestay-registration framework. Its current website still links the document titled *Guidelines for Approval and Registration of Village Homestay in Arunachal Pradesh*, while the State EoDB portal separately exposes live services for fresh homestay registration and renewal. [S1, current Tourism link; S5, portal]
• The published homestay guideline describes the category around an existing traditional private home owned by a local, with the owner expected to reside there and manage the accommodation. The eligibility language is therefore materially narrower than a generic short-term rental or investor-owned guest accommodation. [S1, guideline pp. 1–2]
• Applicant evidence demanded by the published guideline includes Scheduled Tribe certificate, Permanent Resident Certificate, three passport photographs, property/interior photographs, educational-qualification evidence, and LPC/allotment paper or NOC of the competent authority. The form also asks whether the building has been approved by the local authority. [S1, Annexes III–IV, pp. 15–16]
• The guideline sets a published ceiling of four guest rooms and eight persons, including children below five, with a minimum guest-room size of 15 sq. m. [S1, guideline p. 2]
• A material implementation conflict exists: the Tourism Department's current Shi Yomi homestay directory lists, among others, a property with 8 rooms/14 beds, another with 5 rooms/8 beds, and another with 6 rooms/10 beds. No amendment or exemption explaining those larger registrations was located. The official sources are not aligned. [S1, p. 2; S6, Shi Yomi directory]
• The guideline is framed around a village/local-resident model and expressly says the applicant should be a resident of the village staying in the house with family. However, the Department's current Papum Pare directory lists multiple homestays in Itanagar and Naharlagun. The guideline does not contain a clearly worded blanket urban prohibition, so urban eligibility for a new application requires written clarification rather than an assumption. [S1, pp. 1–2; S6, Papum Pare directory]
• Rented buildings and under-construction buildings are expressly identified as grounds for refusal in the published guideline. A capital-only investor, long-term lessee or landowner proposing a purpose-built homestay therefore cannot assume that the published homestay route is available. [S1, guideline p. 8]
• The published classification system is Diamond/Class A, Gold/Class B and Silver/Class C, with annual fees of ₹3,000, ₹2,000 and ₹1,000 respectively. Initial registration is stated to be for one year and renewal for another year after verification. [S1, pp. 5–7]
• That grading framework is now potentially affected by the Arunachal Pradesh Tourism Policy 2025–2030, which says accommodation registration is to move toward ratings up to five stars and that rules are to be framed under the 2016 Tourism Trade Act to introduce STCI accreditation. No notified implementing instrument reconciling that policy with the Diamond/Gold/Silver homestay scheme was located. The official sources are not aligned / IMPLEMENTATION Not stated in the material reviewed. [S2, pp. 27, 32]
• The district-level published route is through the District Tourism Officer (DTO), with inspection by the DTO/district committee, recommendation through the Deputy Commissioner and higher scrutiny at Directorate level; the initial certificate is described as being issued by the Director of Tourism with prior approval of the Secretary, Tourism. [S1, pp. 4–6]
• The live EoDB portal now requires a new user generally to register, obtain a UBIN, and then apply for a service/licence using that UBIN. Both fresh homestay registration and homestay renewal are live services, but their detailed authenticated forms, upload requirements, service timeline and payment screens could not be inspected without login. [S5, portal]
• Registered homestays are required by the guideline to maintain guest/tourist and feedback records, retain copies of the applicable ILP for domestic tourists and PAP for foreign tourists, and provide quarterly tourist-arrival/feedback information to the DTO. Foreign guests additionally trigger the current central Immigration and Foreigners Rules, 2025: Form III information must be transmitted electronically within 24 hours of arrival and departure, and the electronic accommodation record retained for at least one year. [S1, pp. 6–7; S12, rule 17 and Form III]
• The homestay guideline does not establish that a company, LLP, professional management company or caretaker may be the registration holder. Its form does contain a field for an “authorised person” running the homestay, creating an ambiguity, but that field cannot safely be treated as permission to replace the resident-owner eligibility rule. [S1, pp. 1, 15]
• Current homestay-specific construction or renovation capital assistance was Not stated in the current official material reviewed. The 2025 CMPVSY is a marketing/travel-event reimbursement scheme, not a property-development subsidy, and its stated scheme period ended on 28 March 2026 subject to fund availability; no official 2026–27 extension was located. [S9, clauses 2–6]
• There is enough official evidence to prepare an internal acquisition/compliance screen, but not enough aligned evidence to publish several high-impact propositions as settled law, particularly current room capacity, new urban eligibility, operator/company eligibility, classification after the 2025 policy, and the authenticated EoDB workflow. [S1; S2; S5; S6]

02 / Document chronology

Use the current rules and implementation

2016 — Tourism Trade Act. India Code identifies the *Arunachal Pradesh (Tourism Trade Registration and Regulation) Act, 2016*, Act 4 of 2016. India Code metadata records an enforcement date of 28 April 2016 while the gazette/notification metadata is dated 12 May 2016. The current consolidated primary text was not retrievable in this review, so the discrepancy was not silently resolved. [S3] 2017–2019 — legacy tourism-support schemes. Historic Chief Minister Paryatan Vikas Yojana and Credit Linked Capital Subsidy material created earlier funding routes, including homestay-related assistance in old material. No current 2026 application notification continuing these historic terms was located. [S10A–S10B] Undated/current-linked — homestay guideline. The Tourism Department currently links the 21-page homestay guideline. Its official URL contains /2022/07/, but that server path is insufficient evidence of a formal publication or effective date. It remains the most detailed current official homestay-specific operational instrument located. [S1] 2024 — amendment history. State amendment material adapting legislation to the new criminal-code framework was located during discovery, but a state-hosted primary copy sufficient for clause-by-clause reliance was not secured. It is therefore recorded as document history rather than a basis for owner-facing requirements. 1 April 2025 / 27 June 2025 / 16 July 2025 — Tourism Policy 2025–2030. The policy was made effective from 1 April 2025, formally notified on 27 June and published in Extraordinary Gazette No. 275 on 16 July. The notification expressly repeals any preceding tourism policy. Importantly, that repeal is of the preceding policy; it does not expressly say that the separate homestay guideline is rescinded. [S2, notification] The policy states that separate homestay/farmstay guidelines and registration processes are to exist, while also introducing future/current policy measures for stricter renewal, STCI, ISO/certification and ratings up to five stars. [S2, pp. 25, 27, 32] 30 June 2025-era implementation record. The *Sashakt Arunachal* Outcome Report records that Tourism Trade Rules under the 2016 Act were to be framed and adopted. A later notified consolidated Tourism Trade Rule set implementing the 2025 policy was Not stated in the current official material reviewed during this review. [S7, p.43] 1 April 2025–28 March 2026 — CMPVSY. The official marketing-assistance guideline defined this finite scheme period and made assistance subject to fund availability. [S9, cl.6] 16 March 2026 — Jan Vishwas amendment. Act 2 of 2026 amended penalty provisions in the 2016 Tourism Trade Act, including sections 22, 23, 24, 26 and 27. This demonstrates that old copies of the principal Act cannot safely be quoted for current penalties without consolidating the amendments. [S4, Schedule pp.5–6] 05 September 2026 — live implementation. The State EoDB portal currently lists both fresh homestay registration and renewal. Current Tourism Department directories continue to use Diamond/Gold/Silver terminology and include urban and above-guideline-capacity listings. [S5–S6]

03 / Category definitions

Choose the right accommodation category

Critical distinction: the 2025 Farm Stay Annex expressly permits operation on behalf of the owner and organisational operators. No equivalent express clause was located for ordinary homestays. The farmstay provision therefore cannot be imported into the homestay category.

04 / Eligibility decision tree

Check whether the applicant and property qualify

1. Identify the exact property address and local-body category.

• Village/rural property with a traditional/private existing house: continue.
• Itanagar, Naharlagun or another urban/local-body address: current listings show urban homestays, but published eligibility remains village-framed → Confirm this in writing with the authority.
• Protected forest, notified eco-sensitive, heritage, defence/border or other specially controlled site: ordinary Tourism documentation does not resolve the site restriction → Confirm this in writing with the authority.

1. Establish property ownership or lease position.

• Applicant/local family owns or holds recognised LPC/allotment evidence: continue.
• Property is rented/leased from an unrelated owner: published guideline identifies rented buildings as a refusal ground → does not appear to fit the published homestay definition.
• Joint/inherited title: guideline accepts LPC/allotment/NOC concepts but gives no clear co-owner-consent rule → Confirm this in writing with the authority.
• Capital-only applicant has not selected a property → Not established in the published material until a specific host/property structure exists.

1. Establish applicant identity and residency.

• Local individual with ST certificate, PRC, age at least 18 and relevant property documents: continue.
• Company/LLP/partnership as proposed registration holder → Confirm this in writing with the authority.
• Non-local individual investor seeking registration in own name → published documentation does not support the route → does not appear to fit the published homestay definition on presently located evidence.

1. Who will live at the property?

• Owner and family live in the homestay/private home: continue.
• Family is within the same compound but owner sleeps elsewhere: guideline wording is internally inconsistent → Confirm this in writing with the authority.
• Owner lives remotely and only a caretaker occupies property → resident-owner management requirement is not met on the published wording → does not appear to fit the published homestay definition.

1. Who will operate it?

• Resident owner/family: continue.
• Professional management company handles reservations/marketing/back-office while resident owner remains host: Tourism effect is not expressly addressed → Confirm this in writing with the authority.
• Professional operator replaces resident owner as on-site host/registration holder: permission Not stated in the material reviewed → Not established in the published material.

1. Room and bed plan.

• ≤4 guest rooms and ≤8 persons, with guest rooms meeting physical requirements: continue.
• >4 rooms or >8 guests: conflicts with current Department listings but violates the published rule → Confirm this in writing with the authority before acquisition or works.
• Do not infer that the building itself may contain only four bedrooms. A restriction on total private/non-guest bedrooms was Not stated in the material reviewed.

1. Construction status.

• Existing private home: continue.
• Building is under construction or project is designed as a purpose-built investment accommodation: published homestay guideline rejects under-construction buildings and the 2025 policy requires Tourism approval for accommodation-development proposals → Consider another accommodation category.
• Agricultural land/farm of qualifying acreage: evaluate Farm Stay Annex separately → Consider another accommodation category.

1. Final research classification.

• Existing local-owned home + resident local owner/family + compliant 4-room/8-person guest plan + required property documentation → This appears to fit the published route, subject to the remaining checks.
• This classification is not approval; DTO inspection, document verification, classification and higher approval remain required. [S1, pp.1–8]

05 / Applicant and operating structures

Set the ownership and operating structure

The “authorised person to run” field should not be read in isolation. An application form can collect an operational contact without changing the substantive eligibility condition. Until the Tourism Department says otherwise in writing, a management agreement should not be used to conclude that the resident-owner requirement disappears.

06 / Property and classification standards

Prepare the property for inspection

The classification bands contain an internal drafting problem: Diamond starts at 80 while Gold extends to 80; Gold begins at 65 while the Silver wording extends to 65. Boundary scores therefore require administrative clarification. [S1, Annex I]

07 / Documents and declarations

Assemble the application file

Download the Arunachal Pradesh property and application checklist ↓

08 / Application and inspection process

Follow the application and inspection process

The EoDB public page says all new users first register, apply for UBIN and, after UBIN approval, use that UBIN for services/licences. Fresh homestay registration and renewal are current Tourism services. The generic FAQ confirms application-status tracking and online delivery of final licences/certificates to the registered account. Workflow conflict: S1 is written as a DTO-led offline/physical inspection process with a treasury challan after approval; S5 now inserts EoDB/UBIN/online processing. The authenticated service did not expose enough information publicly to determine whether the portal has replaced the initial DTO submission, merely digitised it, or operates in parallel. The official sources are not aligned.

09 / Fees, timelines, validity and renewal

Confirm fees, timing and certificate validity

The EoDB refund page was last updated 23 June 2023 and says application fees are non-refundable even when an application is rejected. Its double-payment procedure is therefore a portal policy, not a promise that every homestay payment is made at the same stage. A discovery copy of the 2016 Act suggests a statutory decision period, but because the current consolidated primary text was not retrievable and the Act has subsequently been amended, no statutory homestay processing period is being published as settled in this guide.

10 / Operating duties after registration

Run the registered homestay correctly

Certificate/standards. The property must continue meeting the category's hygiene, physical and guest-service standards. Unhygienic conditions, overcharging and misconduct toward guests are among the guideline's identified grounds for removal/non-renewal. [S1, p.8] Guest records. Maintain a guest/tourist register and feedback/complaint register. The guideline requires copies of ILP for domestic tourists and PAP for foreign tourists. [S1, p.7] Tourism statistics. The guideline requires quarterly tourist-arrival information and feedback to the DTO. [S1, p.6] A discovery copy of the principal 2016 Act suggests a potentially different monthly statistical-return obligation. Because the current primary consolidated Act text was not obtained, this is treated as a high-priority verification gap, not silently discarded. Foreign guests. Current central law independently requires the keeper of a homestay accommodating a foreigner, including an OCI cardholder, to:

• obtain prescribed particulars;
• maintain them electronically for at least one year;
• make them available for inspection;
• transmit Form III electronically within 24 hours after arrival; and
• transmit departure details within 24 hours after departure. Rule 17 expressly includes a “home stay” in its accommodation definition. [S12, rule 17] Form III captures premises details, foreigner's name, nationality, passport, visa/OCI and contact information, arrival and departure data and next destination. [S12, Form III] Domestic permits. The Tourism website currently says eILP applies to Indian citizens, while foreign nationals use the PAP/RAP route. Tourist eILP is described for stays up to 14 days. [S13, current portal] Rate display. A specific current homestay rate-display rule was Not stated in the material reviewed IN THE INSPECTED HOMESTAY GUIDELINE. “Overcharging” is nevertheless identified as a removal ground. Do not invent an administered tariff unless an order for the property/category is produced. Invoices/billing. Tourism-specific invoice fields and retention periods were Not stated in the material reviewed. Tax invoices, where required, follow applicable tax law independently. Food. The homestay guideline expects a family member to prepare hygienic meals, including traditional food. That does not exempt an operator from the Food Safety and Standards framework when it is carrying on a food business. From 1 April 2026, FSSAI's revised turnover categorisation is:
• registration: up to ₹1.5 crore;
• State licence: above ₹1.5 crore and up to ₹50 crore;
• Central licence: above ₹50 crore. FSSAI also states that licences/registrations now have perpetual validity unless suspended, cancelled or surrendered. [S11, 13 and 27 Mar 2026 orders] The correct FoSCoS kind-of-business and licence category must be determined from the actual food operation; the Tourism guideline does not answer it. Staff/caretaker police checks. Universal homestay staff/caretaker police-verification requirements were Not stated in the material reviewed in the inspected homestay guideline. Local-employment quota. Not stated in the material reviewed. Insurance. Mandatory homestay-specific property/public-liability insurance was Not stated in the material reviewed. Appropriate property, fire, public liability, employee and business-interruption coverage is a business-risk recommendation, not a located tourism-registration condition. Incident reporting. A specific homestay incident-reporting timeframe was Not stated in the material reviewed. Ordinary police/emergency/legal reporting remains event-dependent. Waste and environmental conduct. Waste, garbage handling, reduced plastic and alternative energy are reflected in classification criteria, while local waste rules remain separately applicable. Renewal. Renewal is annual under S1 and entails renewed verification, continued standards, visitor data and performance evidence. The 2025 policy indicates an intended stricter renewal approach using previous-year visitor numbers, DTO feedback and sampled tourist feedback. [S1 pp.6–7; S2 p.25]

11 / Adjacent approvals and dependencies

Close the approvals outside Tourism

The EoDB portal separately exposes services for environment/non-forest-land matters, commercial water/sewer connections, electricity, trade licences and other approvals, confirming that these regulatory domains are not collapsed into the Tourism registration.

GST

The CBIC material reviewed states a ₹20 lakh aggregate-turnover registration threshold for suppliers of services; the ₹10 lakh service threshold is identified for Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland and Tripura, not Arunachal Pradesh. It also records exemptions for certain service suppliers up to ₹20 lakh making interstate or e-commerce supplies. [S14, p.12] That should not be converted into “every Arunachal homestay registers only after ₹20 lakh.” GST analysis remains PAN/entity/supply-specific and must account for the current CGST/IGST Acts, notifications and any compulsory-registration provisions.

Udyam

No Tourism source reviewed requires Udyam registration as a condition of homestay approval. Udyam may nevertheless be relevant to MSME status, finance and benefits. The official Udyam portal is the appropriate source. [S15]

12 / Incentives, subsidy and funding

Evaluate incentives without assuming sanction

A. Chief Minister Paryatan Vipanan Sahayata Yojana — CMPVSY

Type: marketing/promotion reimbursement, not homestay construction subsidy. Eligible service provider: Tourism service provider holding a valid licence from the Arunachal Pradesh Tourism Department. Homestays are expressly among the scheme's intended Tourism service-provider audience. [S9, cl.2] Earnings condition: the source uses the internally awkward phrase “earning up to a minimum” and then ₹20 lakh for domestic-event qualification and ₹40 lakh for international events in the preceding financial year. Because that formulation is contradictory, it must not be rewritten into a clean minimum/maximum test without departmental clarification. [S9, cl.2(ii)] Growth condition: cumulative earnings must show 5% increase over the specified two-year comparison. [S9, cl.2(iii)] Frequency: maximum four events in a financial year — two domestic and two international. Trips require at least five nights excluding journey period. Assistance is limited to one regular employee/director/partner/proprietor. [S9, cl.2] Prior approval: mandatory; the guideline requires a request at least 45 days before travel/event. [S9, cl.3(ii)] Verified ceilings:

• domestic event: maximum ₹60,000;
• international event: maximum ₹4 lakh;
• where Tourism Department provides stall/booth: ₹30,000 domestic or ₹2 lakh international. [S9, cl.3(i)] Eligible reimbursement components: economy travel; 90% of qualifying stall/electricity/water/participation costs; accommodation for up to five nights, capped at ₹2,000/night domestic and ₹4,000/night international, all subject to the overall ceiling. [S9, cl.3(iii)] Claim timing: claim within 30 days after return; deficient claims not completed within the stated 30-day cure period may be rejected. [S9, cl.2(x–xi)] Double funding: applicant must not have received government assistance for the same promotional activity. [S9, cl.2(viii)] Scheme period: 1 April 2025 to 28 March 2026, subject to availability of funds. [S9, cl.6] Current application status on 05 September 2026: NOT CONFIRMED OPEN. No official extension/replacement window for 2026–27 was located. It must not be budgeted as current income.

B. Historic Credit Linked Capital Subsidy Scheme

A Tourism Department advertisement dated 5 September 2019 advertised capital subsidy of 20% of project cost or ₹1 crore, whichever was lower, tied to institutional finance for qualifying tourism infrastructure. [S10A] Current application window/continuation: Not stated in the current official material reviewed. The historic figure should therefore appear only in a regulatory-history note, never as a present project entitlement.

C. Historic Chief Minister Paryatan Vikas Yojana

Older official material contemplated bank-linked assistance including homestays and a historic subsidy ceiling up to ₹5 lakh under the older scheme structure, with beneficiary/bank contribution conditions. [S10B] Current 2026 sanction route: Not stated in the material reviewed. Current application window: Not stated in the material reviewed. Current budget allocation: Not stated in the material reviewed. Accordingly it cannot be included as available project finance.

D. Tourism Policy 2025–2030 incentives

The current policy says homestays/farmstays using local culture and locally sourced environment-friendly materials should receive priority in incentive disbursal. [S2, p.27] However, a current homestay-specific:

• subsidy percentage;
• eligible cost base;
• rupee ceiling;
• bank contribution;
• beneficiary contribution;
• application form;
• sanction authority; or
• 2026 application window was Not stated in the current official material reviewed. The Policy does contain incentive concepts for other tourism infrastructure categories, but those cannot be imported into an ordinary homestay.

Funding conclusion

For a new the project team project, the financially conservative assumption should be zero assured Tourism subsidy until a live official sanction scheme is identified and the specific applicant/property is found eligible. Scheme approval is separate from Tourism registration, bank sanction, title approval and construction approval.

13 / Business implications

Translate the rules into a workable project

Before selecting or acquiring a property

The property assessment should establish, before commercial commitment:

• exact address, village/ward/ULB and district;
• land/title/LPC/allotment status;
• whether there are co-owners or succession issues;
• identity and PRC/ST position of intended registration holder;
• where that person and family actually reside;
• whether the building is existing, under construction or proposed;
• current guest-room and bed/occupancy plan;
• whether the published 4-room/8-person limit is commercially acceptable;
• whether the address is forest/protected/border/heritage-sensitive;
• current local building-use position;
• water/electricity/access/waste practicality;
• whether food will be served;
• whether foreign guests will be accepted. A property should not be selected merely because a nearby official Tourism listing contains a larger homestay. The listing conflict requires clarification for a new application.

Before construction or major renovation

The ordinary homestay guideline rejects under-construction properties, while the 2025 Tourism Policy says accommodation-development proposals require Tourism Department approval. New-build schemes should therefore obtain written category confirmation before committing to homestay-specific architecture or financial assumptions. [S1 p.8; S2 p.25] Local building, land-use, fire, environment, utilities and structural permissions remain separate.

Registration holder versus operating entity

For ordinary homestays, the located sources do not establish that:

• an LLP can be registration holder;
• a company can replace the resident individual owner;
• a lessee can hold registration;
• a professional management company can become the Tourism-recognised host; or
• a caretaker can cure owner absence. The Farm Stay Annex expressly provides owner-registration plus third-party operation, demonstrating that the State knows how to authorise such separation when it intends to. That wording was not located in the ordinary homestay guideline. An LLP or management agreement may allocate commercial obligations between parties, but it cannot by itself alter Tourism eligibility.

Property-development scope

Architectural, renovation and development work should be conditioned on:

1. Tourism category confirmation;
2. legal property control;
3. local plan/building approval;
4. use/occupancy permissions;
5. location-specific environmental restrictions;
6. utilities;
7. fire/safety requirements;
8. a room programme that remains valid if the four-room rule is enforced.

Commercial planning

Property assessment should distinguish:

• registration holder;
• property owner;
• resident host;
• operator/manager;
• employer;
• food business operator;
• taxable supplier;
• investor/capital provider. These roles should not be collapsed into one entity unless the law and contract actually support that result. No room rate, occupancy, revenue, operating margin, development cost, payback period or subsidy should be inserted into an investment case without separate market/cost evidence.

Questions that must be answered before the project team proposes business terms

1. Who is legally entitled to the land/building?
2. Who will hold the Tourism certificate?
3. Does that person satisfy local/residency documentation?
4. Where will the owner/family live?
5. Who will actually interact with guests?
6. What functions, if any, may be contractually delegated?
7. Is the property already legally constructed and approved?
8. Is the 4-room/8-person restriction being enforced for fresh applications?
9. Is an urban address currently eligible for a new homestay?
10. What classification system will the new application use?
11. Which capital works require separate local approval?
12. What happens to the certificate on sale, death, lease or operator change?
13. Is any subsidy genuinely open at the application date?
14. Which party bears failure-to-register and regulatory-change risk? No fixed ownership percentage, capital contribution or income commitment should be proposed from this regulatory guide alone.

14 / Official-source conflicts

Resolve conflicting official instructions

Conflict 1 — four rooms/eight persons versus current official listings

Source A: S1, p.2. Published homestay guideline limits guest accommodation to four rooms and eight persons. Source B: S6 current Shi Yomi directory. It lists Naksang Homestay at 8 rooms/14 beds, Neh-Pemazelling at 5 rooms/8 beds and Yargyapchu at 6 rooms/10 beds. Dates/hierarchy: S1 is prescriptive registration guidance but undated; S6 is a current Department implementation/listing page but is not a legal amendment. Override located: No. Status: The official sources are not aligned. Affected properties: any fresh or expanding homestay proposing >4 guest rooms or >8 guest capacity; existing listed properties above the cap. Written answer required from: property DTO, Director of Tourism and, for a policy-level ruling, Secretary, Tourism.

Conflict 2 — village-framed eligibility versus urban operating listings

Source A: S1 describes the applicant as a village resident staying in the house with family and frames the scheme around village/local/traditional accommodation. Source B: S6 Papum Pare directory lists homestays in Itanagar, Chandranagar, Niti Vihar, Naharlagun and other urbanised locations. Hierarchy/date: S1 is prescriptive; directory is current implementation. S1 contains no clearly drafted sentence saying “urban homestays are prohibited.” Status: The official sources are not aligned as to the practical geographic test; not sufficient evidence to state an urban prohibition. Affected properties: all new urban/municipal homestay proposals. Resolve with: DTO + Directorate of Tourism, with exact ward/local-body address.

Conflict 3 — where the owner/family must live

Source A: S1 p.1 indicates that the owner should reside in the home and manage it. Source B: S1 p.6 states the family must reside within the vicinity of the compound where the homestay operates. Conflict: same-house residence versus within/around the compound. Status: OFFICIAL SOURCE INTERNALLY AMBIGUOUS. Affected: owner in neighbouring structure, separate house in same compound, inherited compound occupied by family. Resolve with: DTO/Director before structuring a host-plus-manager model.

Conflict 4 — Diamond/Gold/Silver versus STCI/up-to-five-star policy

Source A: S1 sets Diamond, Gold and Silver classifications with annual fees; current official directories still use those grades. Source B: S2 says Tourism registration will be rated up to five stars and rules should incorporate STCI; it also says alternative accommodation registered during the policy period is to be mandated toward STCI within six months. Later hierarchy: S2 is the newer formally notified policy, but it itself anticipates rules/implementation. No rule expressly rescinding the S1 grade table was located. Status: The official sources are not aligned / IMPLEMENTATION Not stated in the material reviewed. Affected: all fresh classifications and renewals after 1 April 2025. Resolve with: Directorate of Tourism/Secretary Tourism; request the notification/order implementing STCI and any five-star homestay rating.

Conflict 5 — DTO/challan process versus EoDB/UBIN process

Source A: S1 describes application to DTO, district inspection/recommendation, Directorate scrutiny and challan/payment after approval. Source B: S5 says new users register on EoDB, secure UBIN and then apply for the Homestay Registration service; general portal payment/certificate functionality is online. Status: The official sources are not aligned on exact sequence, not necessarily on substantive approval authority. Affected: every new and renewing applicant. Resolve with: State EoDB support + DTO, asking for the current service workflow/SOP.

Conflict 6 — classification-score boundaries

Source: S1 Annex I itself. Diamond begins at 80; Gold is written through 80. Gold begins at 65 while Silver reaches 65. Status: OFFICIAL SOURCE INTERNALLY AMBIGUOUS. Affected: inspection scores exactly at 65 and 80. Resolve with: Directorate Homestay Committee.

Conflict 7 — resident owner managing versus authorised person field

Source A: S1 definition/residence language expects resident owner management. Source B: Annex III asks for the authorised person to run the homestay. Status: OFFICIAL SOURCE INTERNALLY AMBIGUOUS. The form field may simply identify the operational contact. It does not expressly establish that a non-owner operator/company can replace the eligible resident owner. Affected: caretaker, management-company and owner-absent arrangements. Resolve with: written Directorate interpretation before contract execution.

Verification gap — quarterly versus potentially monthly statistics

S1 explicitly requires quarterly arrivals/feedback. A discovery reproduction of the principal 2016 Act indicates a possible monthly statistical-return provision. Because the current primary consolidated Act was not retrieved, this is not recorded as a proven conflict, but it must be resolved before publishing the reporting frequency as exhaustive.

Funding-source conflict/obsolescence warning

Legacy 2017–2019 incentive material remains accessible from official Tourism infrastructure, but no current application window preserving those historic subsidy terms was located. Being downloadable is not evidence that a scheme is currently open.

15 / Unresolved questions for the authority

Take the remaining questions to the authority

1. Room-cap conflict: Is S1's four-room/eight-person ceiling still binding on fresh applications in September 2026? If yes, under what order/exemption are larger properties currently listed by the Tourism Department in Shi Yomi?
2. Urban properties: May a new applicant in Itanagar, Naharlagun or another municipal/urban area register under the ordinary homestay guideline despite the S1 “resident of village” wording?
3. Residence test: Does the owner personally have to sleep/live in the same building, or is owner/family residence in another dwelling within the same compound sufficient?
4. Operator: What is the legal effect of Annex III's “authorised person to run” field? Can that person be an employee or professional management company?
5. Company/LLP: Can a private limited company, partnership firm or LLP ever be the ordinary homestay registration holder? If yes, what substitutes for ST certificate, PRC and resident-owner requirements?
6. Joint ownership: What consent/NOC is needed where the house is jointly owned or inherited?
7. Lease: Is there any current exemption to S1's refusal of rented buildings for a registered long-term lease?
8. Classification: Has a notification replaced Diamond/Gold/Silver with the Tourism Policy's up-to-five-star framework? If so, please provide the order and current fee schedule.
9. STCI: Which notified rule implements the six-month STCI requirement for homestays registered during the 2025–2030 policy period?
10. Score boundaries: At exactly 65 and 80 points, which S1 grade applies?
11. Online workflow: Must the applicant approach the DTO before filing on EoDB, or is EoDB/UBIN now the first formal submission?
12. Current uploads: What is the complete authenticated fresh-registration document list, permitted file formats and maximum file sizes?
13. Current fee route: Are the ₹1,000/₹2,000/₹3,000 annual category fees still current, and are they paid through EoDB/eGRAS instead of treasury challan?
14. Current SLA: What statutory or notified service period applies to fresh homestay registration and renewal?
15. Renewal window: How many days before expiry should renewal be submitted?
16. Reporting: Is the homestay's quarterly report under S1 sufficient, or does the 2016 Act/rules presently require a separate monthly statistical return?
17. Transfer: What process applies on sale, inheritance, death of proprietor, ownership restructuring or change of operator?
18. Alteration: Must a registered homestay obtain prior approval or fresh registration before adding/reconfiguring guest rooms?
19. New construction: Can a landowner obtain in-principle Tourism approval for a future ordinary homestay notwithstanding S1's refusal of under-construction buildings, or must a different accommodation category be selected?
20. Fire/building: Which exact local-building and fire certificates are mandatory for an ordinary ≤4-room homestay in each relevant local-body class?
21. Government employee declaration: Is the Annex III declaration that the applicant is not employed by a Government Department still a substantive current eligibility condition?
22. Current subsidy: Is any homestay construction/renovation subsidy presently open in FY 2026–27?
23. CMPVSY: Has the scheme been extended/reissued after 28 March 2026?
24. Legacy schemes: Are CMPVY or the historic Credit Linked Capital Subsidy Scheme accepting new homestay applications under any current order?