The Delhi government has taken a step to streamline the issuance of hotel, club, and restaurant (HCR) category licenses through its Excise department, aiming to invigorate the city’s hospitality industry. An official stated that the application process for an HCR license, which previously involved four steps, has now been reduced to just two steps, significantly saving time by minimizing paperwork.
“This four time back and forth movement of files was found to be not only consuming valuable time but also a hassle to the applicants. Now, a simplified process put in place will ensure speedier disposal of HCR license applications,” said the officer.
Under the new procedure, the HCR license application, accompanied by the necessary documentation, will be presented before the licensing authority, who is the deputy commissioner (excise). This authority will be responsible for granting approval to dispatch an inspection team to assess the suitability of the intended HCR establishment. Upon receiving the team’s endorsement, a notice will be issued to proceed with the licensing process.
The inspection report would then be signed by an assistant commissioner and notice would be issued to be pasted at the proposed premises seeking any objections from the local residents within 15 days.
In the next step, the file will be again placed before the licensing authority after the notice period is over, and if there are no objections, sent for approval to issue the offer letter on payment of license fee.
After receipt of the payment online, the assistant commissioner (HCR) will notify the applicant, who will receive the copy of license, the login id and password through registered mail, added the document.