“There is no law that prohibits unmarried couples from staying together in hotels. Choosing to stay together is a personal choice and falls under freedom of movement, which cannot be restricted,” says senior advocate Sudha Ramalingam.
Hotels deny rooms to unmarried couples because of the fear of being judged and worry about the reputation of the hotel. The police many a time are hand in gloves with the hotel owners and arrest these couples, who are enjoying their private moments behind the closed walls of a hotel room.
So the issue of privacy for unmarried couples is not just restricted to parks and gardens but also extends to finding a good hotel room to stay for a few hours. In spite of the countless number of hotels, resorts and retiring rooms in India, most of them do not allow unmarried couples to rent a room.
Hoteliers say it is a case of playing safe than sorry. “There are no specific rules laid down by the government about renting a room in a hotel ‘to a male and a female who are unmarried’. Hotels that have such rules, mostly are unsure about renting rooms to a man and a woman who are unmarried.
Can unmarried couples stay in hotel rooms?
When a specific question was put to officials about the illegality in permitting unmarried couples to stay in hotel rooms, they had no answer. Apparently, there are no laws or regulations forbearing unmarried persons of opposite sex from occupying hotel rooms as guests.
While live-in-relationship of two adults is not deemed to be an offence, terming the occupation of hotel room by an unmarried couple, will not attract a criminal offence. That being so, the extreme step of sealing the premises on the ground that an unmarried couple were occupying the premises, is totally illegal in the absence …
What happens if a couple is caught in illegal activities?
If the couple is caught engaging in illegal activities, the hotel will also fall into some major trouble. It is to avoid such a situation, that hotels may include such a policy,” explains K Ramamurthy, Secretary, of the Bruhat Bangalore Hotels Association.
For now, the only guaranteed solution to avoid being left room-less while on a holiday is to check in advance if your hotel is likely to chaperone you and your partner. This is an updated version of the original piece which was published on The News Minute on November 24, 2014.
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