Delhi's New PG Law 2026 Explained: Licences, Security, Rent, Fire Safety and the Proposed GovPG Portal

For decades, renting a PG in Delhi has worked roughly the same way. A landlord converts spare rooms or an entire building into paying accommodation, word spreads through students and local agents, and money changes hands with little more than a verbal understanding and perhaps a basic rent agreement. There has never been a licence to apply for, no safety certificate to check, no central place to even confirm the building legally exists as student housing at all. That is precisely the gap Delhi's government is now trying to close, and it is worth understanding exactly what is actually being proposed rather than relying on rumour or a half remembered headline.

The trigger for this shift is not subtle. Following the collapse of a PG building in Satya Niketan that killed seven people in September 2026, Delhi's government moved unusually quickly from crisis response toward genuine policy development. Urban Development Minister Ashish Sood announced that a comprehensive policy to regulate PG accommodations would be introduced within one to two months of the collapse, following direct conversations with university students and NSS volunteers living in PGs and rented housing across the city, many of whom raised concerns about arbitrary electricity charges, landlords ignoring the terms of rental agreements, high rents and inadequate safety checks.

It is worth being honest about why this problem grew so large before anyone tried to fix it properly. Delhi's student population has grown steadily for years, drawing people from every state for university admissions, coaching institutes and professional courses, and private PGs became the default answer to that demand largely because official hostel capacity never came close to keeping pace. What grew alongside that demand was an entirely informal market, one with no standardised safety requirements, no registration process, no consistent documentation and effectively no accountability mechanism for a student or parent who ran into a genuine problem after moving in.

The proposed legislation, called the Paying Guest Accommodation Regulation and Safety Bill, 2026, sets out to change that structure directly. It is important to separate what is currently only proposed from what has already been put into action, since a great deal of confusion tends to spread once a bill like this starts making headlines. As of this writing, the bill remains a draft under development, not a law already in force, and several of its specific provisions could still change before it is formally passed.

What the draft framework currently includes is fairly comprehensive. Mandatory registration and licensing for every PG operator, meaning a PG would no longer be able to legally operate simply by existing and collecting rent. Police verification of operators, alongside a formal no objection certificate and municipal clearance specifically covering structural and fire safety. A unique registration number for every compliant property, similar in spirit to how other regulated accommodation businesses are tracked. And at the centre of the entire framework, a proposed online platform called GovPG, designed to function simultaneously as a public registry of registered PGs and as a complaints portal students could actually use.

The GovPG portal deserves a closer look, since it represents the most direct attempt to give students genuine visibility into a market that has offered almost none until now. Under the draft proposal, PG operators would be required to upload establishment details to the portal and provide monthly updates covering occupancy levels, rent changes and audit dates. Students, in turn, would be able to use the same portal to verify a property's registration and capacity certificates before ever paying a deposit, submit grievances directly, file complaints anonymously if they preferred not to reveal their identity and track the status of any complaint they had already filed. Once a complaint is submitted, the relevant zonal authority and, where applicable, an institutional accommodation committee linked to a college or coaching centre would be notified directly, rather than a student's concern simply disappearing into an unanswered phone call or email.

The draft bill also proposes rent regulation through zone wise rent bands set by a dedicated Rent Regulation Committee, based on prevailing market rates and the amenities a specific property actually offers, alongside a cap on security deposits at three months' rent, with a requirement that deposits be returned within 30 days except in cases of documented misconduct. On the safety side specifically, the proposal would require CCTV cameras at entrances and common areas for every registered PG, and would mandate a licensed night security guard between 10pm and 6am for any facility housing 15 or more students. Operators who comply fully could be rewarded with property tax rebates, easier access to loans for safety upgrades and formal recognition as a Certified Student Friendly PG, a status intended to help genuinely well run properties stand out in a crowded, largely unregulated market.

None of this is being rolled out overnight, and the draft itself acknowledges real, practical challenges. Delhi is estimated to have somewhere in the region of 200,000 PG establishments, a number the draft bill itself references, and bringing a market this large and this informal into a regulated system will require significant enforcement capacity that does not yet fully exist. The draft explicitly anticipates phased enforcement and a single window system to coordinate the multiple clearances a PG operator would need to obtain, rather than expecting every property in the city to become fully compliant the moment the law is passed.

For students, if this framework is eventually implemented roughly as proposed, the practical changes would be significant. Genuine transparency before booking, since a prospective resident could check a property's registration and safety compliance on GovPG before ever visiting in person. Real accountability for operators, since a licensed PG with a registration number to protect has considerably more to lose from cutting corners than an informal landlord who currently answers to nobody. A functioning complaint mechanism, rather than the current situation where a student's only real option when something goes wrong is to simply move out and warn other students informally. And meaningfully better information generally, since safety documentation, rent history and capacity certificates would all sit in one place rather than being scattered, if they exist at all, across whatever a landlord happens to be willing to show a prospective tenant.

For PG operators, the same framework represents a genuine shift in what running this kind of business actually requires. Compliance costs will rise, since fire safety upgrades, structural certification and proper documentation all cost real money that many operators have simply never had to spend before. Registration and inspection processes will add administrative burden that an informal, cash based rental arrangement never previously involved. And accountability, in the form of a public registry and a functioning complaints system, means operators can no longer rely on the current near total absence of oversight to avoid consequences for cutting corners.

While this framework continues working its way through the legislative process, students do not need to wait for GovPG to launch before protecting themselves. Ask any PG operator directly for documentation, a fire NOC, a structural stability certificate, proof of sanctioned building plans, and treat hesitation or vague reassurance as a genuine warning sign rather than something to simply accept. Physically check exits and staircases yourself rather than trusting a verbal description of them. Ask specifically what the emergency procedure actually is if there were ever a fire or a medical emergency. Understand the full rent and deposit structure in plain terms before paying anything, including exactly when and how a deposit would be refunded. Get every material term in writing, even if the person managing the property insists a verbal agreement has always been good enough before. Verify exactly who manages the property day to day and confirm you have a way to reach them that actually works. And ask directly how complaints have been handled in the past, since a property with no coherent answer to this question is very likely a property with no real system behind it at all.

Delhi's proposed regulatory framework could, over time, gradually move the PG market away from an informal room for rent model and toward something considerably more accountable. For students, that shift matters because accommodation was never really only about price and location in the first place. It has always also been about knowing who is actually responsible for the building, its management, and a student's day to day living environment, even though that knowledge has, until now, been extremely hard to actually verify.

At Aspiro Living in Karol Bagh, we already operate the way this proposed framework is asking the entire market to move toward. We maintain CCTV surveillance and biometric entry across our residences, we run our safety systems around the clock, and we have built our management structure around genuine responsiveness rather than a single unreachable phone number. Our in house kitchen, our dedicated recreational space and the supportive peer community we have built around residents are not amenities layered on top of compliance. They are simply how we believe a premium PG for girls should actually operate. Students comparing options in Karol Bagh can look at what we offer as one example of the kind of professionally managed student accommodation Delhi's regulatory shift is ultimately trying to make the norm rather than the exception.

It is also worth understanding why a single window clearance system, one of the quieter proposals within the draft bill, actually matters as much as it does. Under the current, entirely informal system, a PG operator wanting to genuinely comply with every relevant safety requirement would need to separately approach the Municipal Corporation of Delhi for building plan approval, the Delhi Fire Service for a fire NOC and potentially the Delhi Development Authority depending on the specific property, each with its own process, its own timeline and its own paperwork. A single window system would let an operator submit one application that routes to each relevant authority internally, considerably lowering the practical burden of actually becoming compliant, which matters enormously if the government genuinely wants a market of this size to move toward registration rather than simply avoiding it.

For students trying to gauge how seriously to take this proposed framework right now, it helps to track its progress the same way you would track any other piece of pending legislation, through official government announcements rather than secondhand summaries that can drift from what was actually proposed. The specific provisions described here reflect the draft as reported at the time of writing, and details around rent bands, registration timelines and enforcement mechanisms could still be revised before the bill is formally passed and implemented.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Delhi's new PG law already in effect?

No, the Paying Guest Accommodation Regulation and Safety Bill, 2026 remains a draft under development as of this writing, though the government has said it aims to introduce it within one to two months of the Satya Niketan collapse.

What is the GovPG portal?

It is a proposed central online platform that would list registered PG accommodations, require operators to upload occupancy, rent and audit details, and let students verify registration, file complaints and track their status.

What safety requirements does the draft PG bill propose?

Mandatory fire NOC and structural clearance, CCTV at entrances and common areas, and a licensed night security guard for any facility housing 15 or more students between 10pm and 6am.

Will PG rent be regulated under the new law?

The draft proposes zone wise rent bands set by a Rent Regulation Committee, along with a security deposit cap of three months' rent, refundable within 30 days except in cases of documented misconduct.

How many PGs does Delhi actually have?

The draft bill itself references an estimated figure of around 200,000 PG establishments across Delhi, most currently operating without formal registration.

What incentives are proposed for compliant PG operators?

Property tax rebates, easier access to loans for safety upgrades, and formal recognition as a Certified Student Friendly PG for operators who meet the proposed compliance standards.

What should students do before the law is fully implemented?

Ask operators directly for fire and structural safety documentation, physically check exits and wiring, get rent and deposit terms in writing, and verify how the property has handled complaints in the past.

How does Aspiro Living align with this proposed regulatory shift?

We already maintain CCTV surveillance, biometric entry, round the clock safety systems and a responsive management structure at our Karol Bagh residences, the kind of accountability the proposed framework is designed to make standard.

Keywords: Delhi PG law 2026, PG rules Delhi 2026, Delhi PG registration, Delhi PG licence, PG regulations Delhi, GovPG portal Delhi, PG safety rules Delhi, student accommodation Delhi, PG registration Delhi, Aspiro Living Karol Bagh

Read more: Satya Niketan PG Collapse: What Happened and What to Check | 99 Percent of Surveyed Delhi PGs Lacked Fire Clearance | How to Choose a PG in Delhi in 2026: The 25-Point Checklist

Sources: The Hans India, "Delhi Plans PG Regulation Bill With Licences, Police Clearance And Public Registry" | NewsBytes, "New bill, structural audits: Actions Delhi is taking post-PG collapse" | DNA India, "Delhi to introduce policy to regulate PGs within next 2 months, govt says" | OMM Com News, "Delhi Govt Mulls Proposal To Make Registration, Licensing Mandatory For PG Facilities"