Bengaluru PGs witness 25% loss after police, BBMP crackdown post Covid pandemic: Report

PG owners have also been facing the heat from the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) for flouting rules. (File photo)

Paying Guest (PG) homes in Bengaluru have been facing losses of about 25 percent owing to new regulations, job cuts in the tech industry, and higher water and electricity bills. This comes at a time when the PGs were recovering after the slump during the Covid pandemic, Deccan Herald reported.

Many PGs in the city have closed down in the last year, and many more are struggling to stay open, according to people in the business. At least two PGs in every area of the city have shut down and many more are struggling to stay open. PG owners told the publication that they have been losing almost 25 percent of their income, and the number of their establishments shutting down is much higher in places like Marathahalli and Sarjapur, which see heavy footfall from professionals employed in the IT sector.

Aruna Kumar DT, president of the PG Owners Welfare Association, told Deccan Herald that several PG owners who were running only one establishment have shit shop. “Only those who run multiple branches are managing to run them. Even those staying afloat are seeing a dip in the number of guests and have reported a loss of 20-25 percent,” he said.

PG owners have also been facing the heat from the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) for flouting rules. More rules focusing on safety and cleanliness, including one that stated that PGs should not be run in residential areas where the road is less than 40 feet wide, led to the closure of about 100 PGs in Mahadevapura.

Both the BBMP and the Bengaluru Police have been keeping a close eye on such establishments after a murder took place inside a paying guest house last August.

Sukhi Seo, secretary of the Bengaluru PG owners’ association, told Deccan Herald that with a hike in water and electricity rates, it's hard to run the business at a price guests can afford. “Many of our guests are students. We do not want to burden them with higher rents. But the increasing costs and changes to be made to abide by norms laid out by the civic body are only burning a hole in our pocket. It is difficult to keep the business running with such losses,” Sukhi said.

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