The Delhi government is preparing to launch a centralised Delhi PG portal to record student accommodation and basic facility details, while a multi-agency sub-committee examines changes to land-use rules for paying guest facilities near educational hubs and in group housing societies.
The decisions were taken at a meeting of a high-powered committee chaired by Education Minister Ashish Sood on Thursday. The committee was formed after a five-storey building collapsed in Satya Niketan on September 6, killing seven people, including five Delhi University students.
Officials said the portal will initially collect essential information such as the number of rooms and basic amenities. Its first tests and dry run are expected to be completed within four days, after which the government plans to begin a campaign encouraging students to register their accommodation.
“The portal will remain simple during its initial rollout to collect essential details such as room counts and basic amenities without causing panic among operators,” officials said, according to the statement cited by The Indian Express.
The proposed sub-committee will examine whether limited relaxations can be made under the Master Plan for Delhi-2047 and the Delhi Municipal Corporation Act, 1957. The stated objective is to determine whether PG facilities can operate legally and safely within a 5-6 km radius of major educational hubs, as well as in group housing societies and Residents’ Welfare Association areas.
The committee is expected to include officials from the Delhi Development Authority, the Delhi government and the Municipal Corporation of Delhi, along with the Vice-Chancellor of Delhi University. The government said the exercise would address situations in which land-use restrictions make it difficult for multi-tenant or boarding accommodation to operate legally in residential areas.
Satya Niketan, Mukherjee Nagar and Ber Sarai have major student populations but face a shortage of official university hostels. As a result, many students depend on private accommodation in residential neighbourhoods. Urban planners cited in the report said restrictions on commercialised or multi-tenant boarding activities have contributed to the growth of informal or unauthorised PG facilities.
“We will soon bring PG regulations and laws to streamline this system,” Sood said. He added that the portal would help establish where students were living and enable authorities to regulate accommodation facilities. Sood also said the government was committed to providing safe and affordable housing for students.
The regulatory draft for the proposed Paying Guest Accommodation Regulation and Safety Bill, 2026, is expected to be finalised within two weeks. The high-powered committee is scheduled to reconvene after October 20, officials said.
The meeting also recommended stronger surveillance and safety requirements at PG facilities. The government statement said future regulations could require CCTV coverage at all entry points, exits and common areas, with 40-45 days of recording storage, while excluding private spaces.
Joint inspections by the MCD and the DDA are already underway at around 100 PG facilities to assess safety standards and legal compliance. The inspections and the proposed portal are expected to provide the government with an initial database as it works on a formal regulatory framework for student accommodation in Delhi.
