Departments Trade Blame Over Bed and Breakfast License Rules Following Malviya Nagar Fire

New Delhi:A massive finger-pointing exercise has erupted among Delhi’s regulatory bodies following a devastating fire at a residential building operating as a Bed and Breakfast (BnB) establishment in Malviya Nagar.

The blaze, which exposed blatant violations of municipal bylaws, has triggered a bureaucratic blame game. Initial investigations revealed the property was operating far beyond the maximum room limit permitted under standard BnB licensing regulations.

While the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) claims the tourism department bears sole responsibility for monitoring guest houses and BnB capacities, tourism officials argue that local civic bodies and Delhi Police are tasked with enforcing building safety and verifying local compliance. Meanwhile, the Delhi Police maintains that licensing authorization rests firmly with the government’s tourism wing, leaving them responsible only for character verifications.

This multi-agency deadlock highlights a severe regulatory vacuum in the capital, where overlapping jurisdictions allow unauthorized commercial operations to slip through the cracks. Fire department officials confirmed that the structure lacked a valid No Objection Certificate (NOC), a mandatory requirement that all three feuding departments claim was the other's duty to flag. As families demand accountability, the government has ordered a high-level inquiry, though residents fear the bureaucratic shuffling will ultimately shield the true perpetrators from facing criminal liability.