Starting a Homestay in Punjab

01 / Executive finding

The practical starting point

• Punjab's current publicly operative Bed & Breakfast/Homestay category is governed by the Bed & Breakfast/Homestay Scheme-2021, notified by the Department of Tourism & Cultural Affairs in supersession of the 2013 scheme. No later notification expressly repealing or replacing the 2021 B&B/Homestay scheme was located. The 2026 Tourism & Hospitality Policy adds an investment-incentive layer; it does not, on the material located, replace the B&B/Homestay registration definition. [S1, pp. 1, 5; S10, cls. 1–5]
• The scheme distinguishes Bed & Breakfast from Homestay primarily by food: B&B includes breakfast, whereas Homestay is accommodation without breakfast as the standard offering, although the owner may arrange breakfast on guest request and mutually agreed charges. [S1, p. 1]
• The principal applicant route is an individual owner of a residential property. The 2021 scheme says applicants are owners of residential properties; the current service descriptor says “Individual” can apply. No current provision was located authorising a company, LLP, partnership, professional operator or management company to be the B&B/Homestay registration holder. [S1, p. 3; S3, “Who can apply”]
• Registration is available only where the owner physically resides in the same property under the substantive scheme. Annexure III goes further and requires a declaration that the owner and family actually reside there. There is no Punjab domicile or permanent-resident-of-Punjab requirement located; the critical published condition is residence in the registered property itself. [S1, pp. 3, 12]
• A registered B&B/Homestay can offer at least 1 and not more than 6 lettable rooms, capped at 12 beds. The application separately asks for the total bedrooms in the building, including the owner's rooms, so the six-room ceiling is a limit on lettable guest rooms, not a stated ceiling on all rooms in the house. [S1, pp. 3, 7, 9]
• Classification is Gold or Silver. Gold requires, among other things, a house no more than 20 years old at the first application, at least 25% open area, hygienic food-storage provision and adequate guest parking inside the premises. Silver covers properties that do not meet Gold criteria but have at least one lettable room. [S1, pp. 2–3; S2, eligibility]
• The current published application fee is ₹5,000 for Gold and ₹3,000 for Silver, stated to be non-refundable and described as applicable to registration/renewal. [S1, p. 4; S2, application fee]
• The certificate is issued by the Chief Executive Officer, Punjab Heritage and Tourism Promotion Board (PHTPB). PHTPB administers, monitors and inspects the scheme. Appeal from a CEO/PHTPB order lies to the Administrative Secretary, Department of Tourism, within 30 days. [S1, pp. 2, 5; S2, certificate issuer]
• The current public portal says the certificate duration is “Lifetime”, and an official 2024 e-certificate states that it is valid until cancellation. The 2021 notification nevertheless continues to refer to a fee for “registration/renewal”. No amendment expressly reconciling these propositions was located. The official sources are not aligned. [S1, p. 4; S2, duration; S6, certificate]
• Processing time is also inconsistent: the notification says certificate issuance within 7 working days and contains a deemed-registration clause; the current service descriptor publishes 15 days excluding government holidays; the user manual says 7–15 working days. The official sources are not aligned. [S1, p. 4; S3, service period; S4, p. 10]
• A complete application should not be prepared solely from the portal's short upload list. The notification requires the application form, facilities checklist, signed declaration, background information, an approved house layout, photographs, ownership proof and owner ID; the current portal separately makes a construction-year verification document and specific photographs mandatory. [S1, p. 3; S2, upload list; S4, pp. 4–8]
• Registration does not establish that the building is lawfully usable for the proposed activity, that construction is sanctioned, that a Fire NOC is unnecessary, that food-law registration is unnecessary, or that municipal/development-authority requirements are satisfied. Punjab separately maintains building-permit, occupancy, fire, trade-licence, property-tax and related local-government services. [S18, services; S19; S20]
• Foreign guests create a separate central-law duty. Since 1 September 2025, Rule 17 of the Immigration and Foreigners Rules, 2025 expressly includes a home stay within “accommodation”; foreigner/OCI particulars must be electronically maintained for at least one year and Form III transmitted within 24 hours of arrival, with departure details within 24 hours after departure. [S14, r.17, Gazette p.28; S15]
• The 2026 Punjab Tourism & Hospitality Policy expressly makes new Farm Stay, Home Stay and B&B units potentially eligible for fiscal incentives and places Home Stay/B&B within an overall incentive ceiling of 10% of FCI or ₹5 crore, whichever is lower. This is a ceiling, not an automatic grant, and existing units undertaking expansion are expressly excluded by the sectoral policy provision located. [S10, cls. 1, 5]
• Sufficient primary evidence exists to draft a serious Punjab public guide, but the guide must preserve the owner-residence requirement, corporate/lease uncertainty, portal/document conflicts, local-building dependencies and 2026 Farm Stay uncertainty. It should not claim that a management agreement, company ownership, land purchase, fee payment, provisional registration or incentive application guarantees an approvable homestay. [S1–S4; S10; S22]

02 / Document chronology

Use the current rules and implementation

2013 — B&B predecessor scheme

The 2021 notification expressly identifies and supersedes Punjab's Bed & Breakfast Scheme, 2013, Notification No. 10/105/2013-1TC/82824/1 dated 07 August 2013. Actions already taken under the earlier scheme are preserved/deemed under the 2021 scheme. [S1, p. 5]

2018 — Punjab State Tourism Policy

The broader Punjab Tourism Policy 2018 identifies homestays, guest houses and other small tourism enterprises as forms the State may support and discusses possible finance/incentive measures. These are policy intentions, not registration conditions or automatic entitlements. [S8, paras 38–39]

2021 — Bed & Breakfast/Homestay Scheme

Notification dated 05 March 2021 introduced the present B&B/Homestay framework and expressly superseded the 2013 instrument. [S1]

2021 — separate Farm Tourism framework

Punjab also operated a separate Farm Tourism Scheme. The current eServices portal still exposes a Farm Tourism service with Gold/Silver categories, up to nine lettable rooms/18 beds and lifetime certificate wording. [S11] This must not be confused with the 1–6-room B&B/Homestay scheme.

2025 — new central foreign-guest regime

The Immigration and Foreigners Rules, 2025 came into force on publication on 1 September 2025, superseding certain predecessor foreigner-registration rules. Rule 17 expressly covers home stays. [S14, r.1(2), r.17]

08 March 2026 — IBDP 2026 and Tourism & Hospitality Policy 2026

Punjab notified Industrial & Business Development Policy 2026 and sectoral policies, including the Punjab Tourism & Hospitality Policy 2026. The sectoral policy expressly lists new Farm Stay, Home Stay and Bed & Breakfast units as incentive-eligible categories, subject to its conditions. [S9; S10, cl.5] Nothing located in the sectoral policy expressly repeals the 2021 B&B/Homestay registration scheme.

May 2026 onward — Farm Stay Policy issue

A Department of Tourism Farm Stay Policy-2026 dated 06 May 2026 is expressly identified in NGT OA 307/2026. The 15 May order records a challenge to provisions concerning construction on certain agricultural/delisted land; on 21 July the Tribunal recorded the continuing challenge and listed the matter for 24 July. [S22] However:

• the issuing Department's current official Farm Stay Policy PDF was Not stated in the material reviewed;
• the current Punjab eServices homepage continues to list the legacy Farm Tourism Scheme;
• an official notified amendment or final NGT disposition resolving the relevant 2026 issue was Not stated in the material reviewed. Therefore the 2026 Farm Stay route should not be folded into the ordinary B&B/Homestay route. Status: OFFICIAL/PUBLIC SOURCES NOT SUFFICIENTLY ALIGNED FOR A SETTLED FARM-STAY LAND-DEVELOPMENT GUIDE.

03 / Category definitions

Choose the right accommodation category

The existence of another accommodation category does not mean an applicant may simply choose whichever category produces the most convenient requirements.

04 / Eligibility decision tree

Check whether the applicant and property qualify

Step 1 — establish the starting facts

Record, before spending on design or registration:

1. exact property address and local-body/development-authority category;
2. ownership, co-ownership, inheritance or lease position;
3. identity of proposed registration holder;
4. where that person actually resides;
5. whether family members reside there;
6. who will handle daily operations;
7. total building bedrooms;
8. rooms proposed for guests;
9. proposed bed count;
10. whether B&B breakfast will be provided;
11. whether the property is existing, proposed, under construction or already running;
12. whether agricultural/protected/forest-linked land is involved.

Branch A — existing residential house + individual owner actually lives there

If there are 1–6 proposed guest rooms and no more than 12 beds: This appears to fit the published route, subject to the remaining checks subject to standards, documents and address-specific building/local compliance. [S1, pp.1–4]

Branch B — existing residential house, but owner lives elsewhere

Published registration is expressly confined to a property where the owner physically resides. does not appear to fit the published homestay definition A caretaker or manager does not cure the owner-residence condition in the B&B/Homestay scheme. [S1, p.3]

Branch C — company/LLP owns the house

Current service descriptor says the B&B/Homestay applicant is Individual, and the scheme is framed around an owner personally residing in the residential property. Confirm this in writing with the authority Do not assume a director residing there makes the company an eligible registration holder. [S1; S3]

Branch D — individual owns house but company will manage bookings/housekeeping

The owner may still satisfy the registration-holder definition, but the scheme does not expressly regulate a third-party management contract. Confirm this in writing with the authority particularly if the operator controls possession, staffing, guest contracts, food service or receipts.

Branch E — leased residential house

Annexure I asks whether the property is “owned outright or leased”, but the substantive eligibility clause says applicants are owners and registration is given where the owner resides. The official sources are not aligned — Confirm this in writing with the authority.

Branch F — more than six guest rooms or more than 12 beds

Consider another accommodation category but not the located B&B/Homestay capacity definition. [S1, pp.3,9]

Branch G — vacant land / new proposed residential construction

The scheme registers fully operational rooms of private residential properties and requires photographs/layout/property evidence. Not established in the published material for registration of a bare site as a future B&B/Homestay. Land/building approvals must precede any assumption that the eventual building can qualify.

Branch H — agricultural land intended for rural-tourism construction

There is a separate 2026 Farm Stay regulatory issue. Consider another accommodation category / Confirm this in writing with the authority especially for PLPA, delisted, Shivalik/Kandi, forest-linked or other restricted land. [S22]

Branch I — running accommodation without owner residence

If the property is in substance an independently operated lodging business with no resident owner: This does not appear to fit the published route&B/HOMESTAY DEFINITION and another category should be examined.

05 / Applicant and operating structures

Set the ownership and operating structure

Important: an LLP agreement, shareholder agreement, lease or management agreement is a private contract. None of those instruments can alter the PHTPB eligibility definition by themselves.

06 / Property and classification standards

Prepare the property for inspection

07 / Documents and declarations

Assemble the application file

No affidavit on stamp paper is expressly listed for the ordinary B&B/Homestay application in the 2021 scheme material reviewed.

Download the Punjab property and application checklist ↓

08 / Application and inspection process

Follow the application and inspection process

Inspection standard

The 2021 scheme requires the property to maintain the published standards continuously and authorises the CEO PHTPB or authorised officer to conduct surprise inspections between 9:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. without prior notice. [S1, p.4] The scheme also gives the owner an opportunity to address deficiencies, with the rectification period being the period specified by the CEO or three months, whichever is less, before cancellation consequence described in the scheme. [S1, p.4]

09 / Fees, timelines, validity and renewal

Confirm fees, timing and certificate validity

Practical conclusion

The official sources are not aligned on registration processing time and the practical meaning of renewal. Until PHTPB confirms otherwise in writing:

• treat 15 days as the current public service-delivery figure, not a guarantee of approval;
• do not build a transaction around automatic/deemed registration;
• treat a current certificate as operative according to its own wording;
• check whether any portal renewal action has been introduced before relying on the lifetime statement.

10 / Operating duties after registration

Run the registered homestay correctly

Certificate and classification

The registered unit must maintain the applicable standards continuously and may represent itself under the approved category. [S1, pp.2,4]

Rates and breakfast

For B&B, the homeowner determines tariff and the tariff is to include daily breakfast; the breakfast type/charges are to be made clear to guests. Homestay does not ordinarily include breakfast, although breakfast can be arranged on demand on mutually accepted terms. [S1, pp.1,3] A separate statutory room-rate display format was Not stated in the material reviewed.

Guest register and domestic identity

The classification checklist requires a guest check-in/check-out register, physical or electronic. It also requires passport details for foreign tourists and a copy of photo identification for domestic tourists. [S1, Annex II item 37] A specific retention period for domestic guest records was Not stated in the material reviewed.

Foreign guests

Rule 17 of the Immigration and Foreigners Rules, 2025 requires the accommodation keeper to:

• collect and record prescribed particulars for every foreigner, including OCI cardholders;
• record arrival and departure information;
• keep those records electronically for at least one year;
• make them available for inspection to specified authorities;
• transmit Form III electronically within 24 hours after arrival;
• transmit departure information within 24 hours after departure. The definition expressly includes a home stay. [S14, r.17(1)–(7), Gazette p.28; S15]

Tourism statistics

Registered owners must submit a quarterly report of the number of guests served through the online system in the prescribed format. Failure on more than one occasion to submit quarterly reports within time is expressly identified as a cancellation ground. [S1, p.5] No separate monthly report was located.

Complaints

Substantiated guest/customer complaints can support cancellation under the scheme. [S1, p.5]

Change of ownership

Change of ownership automatically cancels the certificate, and Annexure III requires the owner to inform the CEO PHTPB within 7 days of the ownership change. [S1, pp.5,12]

Staff/caretaker verification

A Punjab-wide B&B/Homestay requirement for staff police verification or caretaker verification was Not stated in the current official material reviewed.

Food

A B&B that prepares/supplies breakfast is separately subject to food-law analysis. FSSAI states that every Food Business Operator must be licensed/registered under section 31, with registration applicable to qualifying petty FBOs up to the currently published ₹12 lakh annual-turnover threshold; businesses outside the registration criteria need the appropriate licence. [S13] Tourism registration does not replace FoSCoS/FSSAI compliance.

Tax and business records

The CGST Act separately establishes GST-registration rules, including the ordinary section 22 threshold of ₹20 lakh aggregate turnover in a non-special-category state, subject to other statutory provisions and exceptions. Punjab is not to be treated as giving a tourism-registration tax exemption. [S16, s.22] A tax adviser should determine the actual treatment based on turnover, contracting entity, booking channels, food and ancillary supplies.

Waste and safety

Municipal-law-compliant garbage disposal is mandatory under the classification checklist; structural safety, hygiene, hot/cold water, power, emergency contact display and other classification standards must be continuously maintained. [S1, pp.4,9–11]

11 / Adjacent approvals and dependencies

Close the approvals outside Tourism

12 / Incentives, subsidy and funding

Evaluate incentives without assuming sanction

A. Punjab Tourism & Hospitality Policy 2026

Official scheme: Punjab Tourism & Hospitality Policy 2026, notified as part of Punjab's 2026 sectoral policies. [S10] Verified eligible categories: new Farm Stay, Home Stay and Bed & Breakfast units are expressly listed as eligible unit categories. The located clause states that existing units undertaking expansion are not eligible. [S10, cl.5] Verified overall ceiling: for Farm Stay / Home Stay / Bed & Breakfast, aggregate incentive support is capped at: 10% of FCI or ₹5 crore, whichever is lower. This is an overall incentive capping provision, not evidence that every qualifying homestay receives a 10% cash grant. [S10, cl.1] Eligibility period: governed by IBDP 2026 clause 5.1.2. The policy permits an eligible unit to select an incentive-disbursement period within the prescribed 10–15-year framework, with the selected period fixed at I-CAF approval according to the policy mechanism. [S9, cl.5.1.2; S10, cl.2] Annual ceiling: governed by IBDP clause 5.1.3. Incentives are subject to annual ceilings; they are not treated as an immediately payable lump sum merely because an overall ceiling exists. [S9, cl.5.1.3; S10, cl.3] Claim/disbursement process: IBDP clause 5.1.4 provides for sanction/eligibility records and post-financial-year claims for relevant incentives through the online system with required financial and supporting documentation. [S9, cl.5.1.4; S10, cl.4] Eligible expenditure: FCI is the verified capping base. A complete homestay-specific official schedule identifying every eligible and excluded FCI cost head was Not stated in the material reviewed/EXTRACTED WITH SUFFICIENT CONFIDENCE for publication in this guide. Applicant/entity interaction: the incentive policy identifies “units”, while the B&B/Homestay registration portal says the registration applicant is an Individual. Do not infer that a company investing in the building can automatically become the tourism registration holder or receive a homestay incentive. Bank route: a mandatory bank-finance route specifically for ordinary B&B/Homestay incentives was Not stated in the current official material reviewed. Current application opening: availability of a live Home Stay/B&B incentive-claim form on FastTrack Punjab on 05 September 2026 was NOT CONFIRMED WITHOUT AUTHENTICATION. Sanction authority for an individual homestay claim: exact project-value-specific sanction authority was Not stated in the material reviewed in the tourism-sector extract sufficiently to publish here. Automatic? No. The policy contains eligibility, annual caps, claim documentation and sanction mechanics. Nothing supports treating the ceiling as automatic assistance.

B. Punjab State Tourism Policy 2018

The 2018 policy envisages possible micro-finance, soft loans, working capital, matching grants and fiscal/monetary support for tourism enterprises including homestays. [S8, paras 38–39] These statements are policy objectives, not a currently verified stand-alone loan/subsidy application scheme. They should not appear on a public page as “available homestay subsidy”.

C. Farm Stay incentives

A 2026 Farm Stay policy copy found through discovery material contains substantially more detailed incentive language, but:

1. the issuing Department's official current Farm Stay PDF was not located;
2. Farm Stay is a different category from the ordinary B&B/Homestay scheme;
3. the policy is the subject of OA 307/2026 concerning certain land treatment. Therefore Farm Stay-specific benefits must not be transplanted into the ordinary Punjab Homestay guide. Status: Confirm this with the relevant authority.

13 / Business implications

Translate the rules into a workable project

Before property selection or acquisition

For every candidate, establish:

• exact title holder;
• co-owner/encumbrance position;
• exact planning/local-body jurisdiction;
• present sanctioned land/building use;
• sanctioned building plan and actual constructed configuration;
• completion/occupancy position where applicable;
• whether the intended registration holder genuinely lives or will live in the property;
• total guest-room/bed plan;
• B&B versus Homestay food model;
• Gold/Silver feasibility;
• protected/forest/PLPA/heritage constraints;
• whether a separate Farm Stay route is being considered. A property should not be valued as an approvable homestay merely because it physically contains six or fewer rooms.

Before construction or renovation

Architectural design should be checked against:

1. governing local building rules;
2. sanctioned use;
3. guest-room/bathroom area requirements;
4. attached bathroom requirement;
5. water/sewer/power provisions;
6. parking/open-area requirements for the intended classification;
7. fire and structural requirements imposed by competent local authorities;
8. accessibility and guest-safety considerations;
9. whether alteration requires plan amendment. The tourism checklist is not a substitute for a sanctioned plan.

Registration holder versus operating entity

The current scheme supports an individual resident owner as registration holder. The sources do not establish that:

• an LLP can hold the certificate;
• a company can hold it;
• a management company can substitute for the owner;
• a long-term lessee can hold it;
• a caretaker can satisfy residence;
• an owner can move away while the operator continues under the same certificate. A separate management arrangement therefore needs to be structured around, not in place of, the statutory/registration-holder requirements.

What an LLP or management agreement cannot solve by itself

It cannot:

• make an ineligible property eligible;
• convert a non-resident owner into a resident host;
• increase the six-room/12-bed limit;
• preserve a certificate after ownership change;
• legalise an unauthorised building;
• remove a Fire/FSSAI/foreign-guest obligation;
• create entitlement to incentive support.

Property-development scope

Any project scope involving:

• acquisition,
• new construction,
• room additions,
• bathrooms,
• structural alteration,
• parking,
• utilities,
• kitchen,
• signage,
• sewage,
• access, should be expressly conditional on address-specific professional and authority review.

Property assessment and commercial planning should contain

• registration-fit classification;
• title/owner-residence status;
• existing-versus-required guest-room matrix;
• Gold/Silver gap analysis;
• adjacent-approval matrix;
• foreign-guest-readiness status;
• food/FSSAI path;
• tax/operator allocation;
• change-of-ownership consequence;
• identified source conflicts;
• incentive eligibility shown separately from base-case economics. No incentive amount should be necessary for the base project to be commercially credible unless it has actually been sanctioned.

Questions to resolve before proposing business terms

1. Who owns the property?
2. Who will be PHTPB applicant?
3. Will that person actually reside there?
4. Can ownership change during the commercial arrangement?
5. Who contracts with the guest?
6. Who collects accommodation consideration?
7. Who provides breakfast/food?
8. Who employs staff?
9. Who bears tourism/local/fire/FSSAI/GST compliance?
10. Who pays for physical compliance upgrades?
11. What happens if registration is refused, cancelled or category-downgraded?
12. What happens on sale, succession or termination of management?
13. Is any proposed investment dependent on subsidy?
14. Which approvals must be conditions precedent? No fixed ownership percentage, capital contribution or revenue share can be responsibly derived from the tourism rules.

14 / Official-source conflicts

Resolve conflicting official instructions

Conflict 1 — certificate processing time

Source A: 2021 Scheme, p.4. Proposition: certificate within 7 working days; failure within stipulated period triggers deemed-registration language. Source B: current service descriptor. Proposition: service-delivery period 15 days, excluding government holidays. Source C: current user manual, p.10. Proposition: certificate within 7–15 working days. Hierarchy/date: S1 is the controlling notification; S3/S4 are newer implementation material, but no express amendment of S1 was located. Status: The official sources are not aligned. Affected properties: every new B&B/Homestay applicant. Written answer should come from: CEO PHTPB, copied to Director Tourism/Administrative Secretary.

Conflict 2 — lifetime validity versus renewal

Source A: S1 fee clause describes fee for “registration/renewal”. Source B: S2 current service page states certificate duration Lifetime. Source C: S6 current-format certificate says valid till cancellation. No fixed validity period was located in the substantive 2021 scheme and no express amendment deleting “renewal” terminology was located. Status: The official sources are not aligned. Practical effect: do not tell owners that they must renew every X years; equally, do not erase the renewal wording from the source history.

Conflict 3 — ownership-document attestation

Source A: S1, p.3 requires ownership-document copy duly attested by a Group-A officer or public notary. Source B: S3 current enclosure table indicates original electronic evidence with attestation not required. No express amending notification was located. Status: The official sources are not aligned. Practical approach: maintain both a clean current title copy and an attested copy until PHTPB confirms which is required.

Conflict 4 — substantive document list versus portal upload list

Source A: S1 requires Annexures I–IV, checklist, signed declaration, approved layout, colour photographs, attested ownership proof and ID. Source B: S2 current public page prominently lists ID, ownership proof, specific photos and construction-year verification. Source C: S4 manual still exposes application/checklist/declaration structures plus the newer upload list. Status: IMPLEMENTATION SOURCES DO NOT IDENTICALLY RESTATE THE NOTIFICATION. A public checklist should contain the union of the currently applicable requirements rather than silently dropping notification documents.

Conflict 5 — lessee

Source A: S1 substantive condition: applicants are owners of residential properties and registration is only where the owner resides. Source B: Annexure I asks whether property status is “owned outright or leased.” No express provision saying a lessee can become B&B/Homestay registration holder was located. Status: The official sources are not aligned. Affected structures: long leases, operator leases, company leases, rent-to-operate arrangements.

Conflict 6 — owner residence versus owner-and-family residence

Source A: principal eligibility condition says the owner physically resides in the same property. Source B: Annexure III requires declaration that “Myself and my family” are actually residing there. Status: WORDING NOT ALIGNED. The issue matters particularly for single owners, owners whose spouse/family temporarily resides elsewhere, inherited properties and separated households.

Conflict 7 — Silver parking/lawn evidence

Source A: classification checklist makes parking desirable for Silver, while Gold expressly requires adequate parking and ≥25% open area. Source B: current portal lists both parking photograph and lawn photograph as mandatory uploads without a visible Silver exception. Status: PORTAL REQUIREMENT AND CLASSIFICATION STANDARD ARE DIFFERENT TYPES OF REQUIREMENT. A mandatory photo upload should not be represented publicly as proof that a Silver homestay must legally have a lawn or Gold-level parking.

Conflict 8 — Farm Tourism portal versus 2026 Farm Stay developments

Punjab eServices still publicly lists its legacy Farm Tourism Scheme. Separately, the NGT has recorded a challenge to a Department of Tourism Farm Stay Policy-2026 dated 06 May 2026. No current issuing-Department webpage reconciling which Farm Tourism/Farm Stay application route should be used for every property type was located. Status: OFFICIAL/PUBLIC SOURCES NOT ALIGNED FOR ADJACENT FARM-STAY CATEGORY. This does not repeal or invalidate the separate B&B/Homestay scheme, but it materially affects landowners considering agricultural-land projects.

15 / Unresolved questions for the authority

Take the remaining questions to the authority

The following questions are suitable for written submission to PHTPB/Department of Tourism:

1. Processing time: Under Notification No. 10/105/2013-1TC/304, p.4 states seven working days and deemed registration, while ServicePlus currently states 15 days and the user manual states 7–15 working days. Which period and deemed-registration rule is currently operative?
2. Provisional registration: Does the current eServices system actually issue the “provisional registration” described in p.4 of the 2021 scheme immediately after a complete application, and may an applicant legally begin hosting solely on that record?
3. Certificate validity: Is a B&B/Homestay certificate currently lifetime/valid until cancellation? If yes, in what circumstances does the “registration/renewal” fee wording still operate?
4. Attestation: Does PHTPB currently require the ownership proof to be notarised/attested as stated in the notification, or is the ServicePlus “attestation not required” instruction controlling for online applications?
5. Lessee applicants: Can a long-term lessee ever be B&B/Homestay registration holder given the “owners of residential properties” eligibility clause and the “owned outright or leased” field in Annexure I?
6. Corporate-owned property: Can a private limited company, LLP, partnership, trust or society owning a residential property register it under the B&B/Homestay Scheme where a director/partner/member resides there?
7. Third-party management: May the individual resident owner remain certificate holder while a professional management company undertakes reservations, housekeeping, marketing, OTA distribution, staff management and guest support?
8. Guest contracting: If professional management is allowed, may the management company be merchant of record/contracting party with guests, or must guest accommodation be supplied by the registered owner?
9. Owner-and-family declaration: Is family residence mandatory, or is personal residence of the individual owner sufficient where the owner is unmarried, lives alone or has family residing elsewhere?
10. Joint ownership: What consent documents are required from co-owners where only one co-owner is the resident applicant?
11. Succession: Does death of a certificate holder automatically terminate registration as a change of ownership, and is there any interim succession process?
12. Room amendment: What process applies if a registered owner increases or decreases lettable rooms while remaining within six rooms/12 beds?
13. Category upgrade/downgrade: Is there a formal amendment application for Silver-to-Gold or Gold-to-Silver classification?
14. Building layout: Which authority's “approved layout” is acceptable for a house in a municipal corporation, municipal council, Nagar Panchayat, development-authority area or village abadi?
15. Old construction: What evidence is accepted for construction year where a Silver property predates formal completion-certificate systems?
16. Portal lawn requirement: For a Silver property with no lawn, what should be uploaded into the mandatory “photograph of lawn” portal field?
17. Portal parking requirement: Can a Silver property without on-premises parking qualify where parking is only “desirable” in Annexure II?
18. “Hills” room-size standard: Which Punjab areas, if any, are officially treated as “hills” for Annexure II room-area standards?
19. Fire: Does PHTPB require a Fire NOC for any B&B/Homestay category/height/area, or is applicability left entirely to the competent local/fire authority?
20. Quarterly reports: What are the current quarter-end due dates and portal filing window for Annexure V?
21. District contacts: Which designated PHTPB/tourism officer handles applications and site issues in each Punjab district?
22. 2026 incentive policy: Which FastTrack Punjab service and I-CAF form should a newly registered Home Stay/B&B use to claim incentives under the Punjab Tourism & Hospitality Policy 2026?
23. Corporate investor versus individual certificate holder: Where capital expenditure is incurred by a company but the B&B certificate must be held by the resident individual owner, can the project qualify under the 2026 Tourism & Hospitality incentive policy and, if yes, under whose name?
24. Farm Tourism/Farm Stay: Is the legacy Farm Tourism Scheme currently accepting new registrations after issuance of Farm Stay Policy-2026, and which properties must now use the FastTrack Farm Stay route?
25. Farm Stay litigation: What notified amendment/current departmental instruction applies to PLPA, delisted and other forest-linked land following OA 307/2026?