Bengaluru’s Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA) plans to disconnect electricity and water and seal paying guest (PG) facilities that operate without required licences, approved building plans or fire-safety clearances, following directions from the Karnataka High Court.
The action will target PG buildings identified during surveys as violating licensing, zoning, building and fire-safety requirements. The GBA told a High Court single-judge bench headed by Justice Suraj Govindaraj that owners had been issued notices but that most had not corrected the reported violations.
GBA counsel B.S. Karthikeyan said the authority’s chief commissioner would soon meet the managing directors of BESCOM and the Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board, along with the city police commissioner. The agencies are expected to assist with sealing premises and disconnecting electricity and water connections.
The authority’s legal cell is preparing notices for PG owners and residents. According to the submission before the court, notices could be issued within 10 days. Residents would be given time to vacate and arrangements would be made for their temporary relocation, the GBA’s counsel said.
The court directed that residents should receive 15 to 21 days to vacate buildings in accordance with the law. The proceedings were adjourned to the 19th. The court also directed the GBA to file caveats in the High Court and relevant civil courts so that PG owners could not obtain one-sided interim injunctions against enforcement action without the authority being heard.
A survey in Bengaluru’s eastern areas found that 2,500 of 5,000 PG facilities were operating illegally, according to information submitted by the GBA. The inspection covered Whitefield, Mahadevapura, KR Puram, Indiranagar and CV Raman Nagar, areas with a high concentration of information technology and multinational companies and, consequently, a large number of PG facilities.
The authority said several facilities were operating without trade licences, sanctioned building plans and no-objection certificates from the fire department. Some were also found to be violating zoning regulations and building bylaws. The survey figures indicate that enforcement will affect not only individual operators but also the housing supply used by workers and students in Bengaluru’s employment corridors.
The High Court had ordered an examination of compliance with conditions attached to trade licences in February 2026 after petitions were filed by a PG owners’ association and individual operators challenging notices issued by the GBA. In an order issued on September 10, the court directed authorities to ensure that PGs function from legally compliant buildings, carry out continuing risk-based identification and inspections, and create a digital database containing information on the city’s PG facilities.
The court also warned that officials could be held personally responsible if they failed to act on known violations and an untoward incident occurred. The GBA’s proposed coordination meeting with BESCOM, the water board and police is the next stated step before notices, resident relocation and enforcement action proceed.
