How to start a homestay in India — registration, rules and setup, state by state
To start a homestay in India, register it with your state’s tourism department under its homestay rules, check whether you need GST, set up foreign-guest reporting, then price your rooms, photograph them well and publish a booking page. Rules differ a lot between states, so confirm the current ones with your state tourism department.
Key takeaway: read your state’s rules before you spend a rupee, because they decide how many rooms you can let, whether you must live there and which permissions you need. Register before your first paying guest, then sort GST and foreign-guest reporting. Everything here was checked on 28 October 2026; rules change, so treat it as a starting point, not legal advice.
TL;DR
- • Registration: with your state tourism department; Himachal, Uttarakhand, Kerala and Goa each run their own scheme.
- • Permissions: a society no-objection certificate (NOC) for flats, local body and fire permissions where your state asks.
- • GST: register above ₹20 lakh of turnover in most states; rooms up to ₹7,500 a night are taxed at 5%.
- • Foreign guests: Form-III (the new Form C) within 24 hours of arrival, on indianfrro.gov.in.
- • Setup: weekday, weekend and season prices, daylight photos, a booking website and a Google profile.
What counts as a homestay
In most state rules, a homestay is a private home where the owner’s family lets a few rooms to paying guests, often with home-cooked food. Some states, such as Goa and Uttarakhand, require the owner to live there; Goa calls it a bed and breakfast when an agent looks after guests instead. Above a set number of rooms you usually have to register as a guest house or hotel, with stricter rules.
Registration in four popular homestay states
| State | Rule or scheme | Key points (as reported) |
|---|---|---|
| Himachal Pradesh | Himachal Pradesh Home Stay Rules, 2025, notified on 25 June 2025, replacing the 2008 scheme | Up to 6 rooms (12 beds). Silver, Gold and Diamond categories. Online registration with the Tourism Department; police and panchayat NOCs no longer needed. Fees were reported at about ₹3,000 to ₹18,000 depending on category and area, and Gold and Diamond units were reported to need GST and pay commercial power and water rates. |
| Uttarakhand | New 2026 registration rules for tourism businesses, homestays and B&Bs (as reported in 2026), replacing the 2015 homestay rules | Homestays are for local permanent residents who live on the premises. Register with your District Tourism office through the state tourism portal. A separate state scheme (Deendayal Upadhyaya Home Stay) offers subsidies to eligible permanent residents. |
| Kerala | Department of Tourism classification of homestays | A committee inspects the unit and the department classifies it as Diamond, Gold or Silver. Classification is valid for three years. Apply online through Kerala Tourism’s service-provider classification page. |
| Goa | Goa Registration of Tourist Trade Act, 1982 and its rules, with the state’s homestay and B&B scheme | The owner must live on the premises (a B&B has an agent on site instead). Up to 6 lettable rooms (12 beds). Register before you open, on the Goa Online portal or at Paryatan Bhavan, Panaji. The department’s policy page lists an annual registration fee of ₹1,000, which it says it may revise. |
Checked on 28 October 2026 from state tourism department pages and news reports of each notification. Fees, room limits and documents change; confirm every detail on your state tourism department’s website before you apply.
Himachal Pradesh: existing homestays had to register again under the 2025 rules, and reports said applications would be decided within 60 days. Summaries of the final rules also listed CCTV in common areas and fire safety equipment among the requirements.
Uttarakhand: reports in 2026 said homestays under the new rules are limited to the state’s permanent residents, who must live in the house. Check the current room and bed limits with your District Tourism office.
Kerala grades homestays rather than simply registering them. Goa wants you registered before you open, and host guidance from early 2026 lists a fire NOC and a housing society NOC (where applicable) among the documents. Any other state: find your tourism department’s homestay or bed-and-breakfast scheme on its official .gov.in site.
Local permissions
Your state’s rules list the permissions it wants, often including some from outside the tourism department: a no-objection certificate from your housing society or residents’ welfare association if you are in a flat (Himachal and Goa both mention one), a trade licence from your panchayat or municipality, and fire safety clearance. If you cook for guests, ask your local food safety office whether you need FSSAI (food safety) registration (foscos.fssai.gov.in). Keep every certificate in one folder.
GST basics
You must register for GST once your turnover from services crosses ₹20 lakh in a financial year in most states (₹10 lakh in Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland and Tripura). Some state homestay rules ask for it anyway; Himachal’s Gold and Diamond units were reported to need it.
From 22 September 2025, rooms priced up to ₹7,500 per unit per day are taxed at 5% without input tax credit (you cannot claim back GST paid on your purchases), and rooms above ₹7,500 at 18%. Bookings through travel apps can be handled differently, so see a chartered accountant (CA) once before you open; our guide to GST on hotel and homestay rooms goes deeper.
If you are GST-registered, a SitesPlaced homestay site adds GST for each room and night at the right rate, so guests see the full amount before booking. If you are not registered, no GST is shown.
Foreign guests: Form C, now Form-III
Every place that houses a foreign guest for money, homestays included, must report them. Under the Immigration and Foreigners Act and Rules, 2025, in force since 1 September 2025, you send Form-III (which replaced Form C) within 24 hours of arrival, at indianfrro.gov.in or on the Indian Visa Su-Swagatam app. Register your property on the portal once, then file one form per guest. SitesPlaced shows a reminder at check-in when a guest is foreign. Details are in Form C for foreign guests.
Pricing your rooms
Start from two numbers: what five comparable homestays near you charge on the travel apps (weekday, weekend and a peak date), and what one occupied night costs you in laundry, power, breakfast, cleaning and staff. Your price sits above the second and near the first.
Then set a pattern, not one number: a weekday price, a weekend price, season and festival prices (Christmas–New Year in the hills, peak winter weeks in Goa), a minimum stay on long weekends, and charges for extra adults or children. On SitesPlaced you set all of these per room, and guests see the total for the stay before booking.
Photos and your first bookings
Shoot on your phone in daylight after tidying each space: every room from the door, every bathroom, the view, the terrace, food on the table, the outside and the road in. Honest photos of the road prevent angry arrivals.
For first bookings, start close to home: post the booking link on your WhatsApp status and send it to friends and family who travel. Create a free Google Business Profile (see how to add your homestay to Google Maps), list on one travel app to be discovered, and ask every early guest for a Google review. Then send people who know your name to your own site; how to get direct bookings explains how.
The opening checklist
| Step | Done when |
|---|---|
| Read your state’s homestay rules on the tourism department’s site | You know the room limit, documents and fee |
| Get society, local body and fire permissions your state asks for | NOCs and licences in a folder |
| Register (or apply for classification) with the tourism department | Registration number in hand |
| Check GST with a CA; register if you cross the limit or your state asks | You know whether to charge GST |
| Register once on indianfrro.gov.in for foreign guests | You can file Form-III within 24 hours |
| Set weekday, weekend and season prices and minimum nights | A price for every night of the year |
| Photograph every room, bathroom, view and meal in daylight | At least five good photos per room |
| Publish a booking website and a Google Business Profile | One link guests can book from |
The last row is where SitesPlaced comes in. The Homestay & Stays template gives you rooms with photos and amenities, check-in times, payment and cancellation rules, meals, nearby places, directions and house rules, plus a booking engine and a dashboard for arrivals, the calendar and payments. It is free to publish with 0% commission; your own domain is from ₹199 a month. See the live demo or the homestay website builder.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need a licence or registration to run a homestay in India?
In the main homestay states, yes. Homestays register with the state tourism department under that state’s homestay scheme or rules, for example Himachal Pradesh’s Home Stay Rules, 2025 or Goa’s registration under the Goa Registration of Tourist Trade Act, 1982. The rules, fees and documents differ by state and change often, so read the current version on your state tourism department’s website before you open.
How many rooms can a homestay have?
It depends on the state. As checked in October 2026, Himachal Pradesh’s 2025 rules and Goa’s homestay policy both allow up to six rooms and 12 beds. Other states set their own limits; above the limit you usually register as a guest house or hotel instead.
Can I start a homestay in a flat or apartment?
Sometimes, with your society’s permission. Himachal Pradesh’s rules were reported to require a no-objection certificate from the residents’ welfare association for flats, and Goa asks for a housing society NOC where one applies. Check your society’s bye-laws too.
Do I need GST registration for a homestay?
You must register once your turnover from services crosses ₹20 lakh in a financial year in most states (₹10 lakh in Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland and Tripura), and some state homestay rules ask for GST anyway. From 22 September 2025, rooms up to ₹7,500 per unit per day are taxed at 5% without input tax credit, and rooms above at 18%. Confirm your case with a CA.
What is Form C and does a homestay need to file it?
Yes, for every foreign guest. Under the Immigration and Foreigners Act and Rules, 2025, in force since 1 September 2025, accommodation providers including homestays must send Form-III (which replaced Form C) within 24 hours of a foreign guest’s arrival, online at indianfrro.gov.in or through the Indian Visa Su-Swagatam app. You register your property on the portal once first.
How much does a homestay website cost?
On SitesPlaced it can cost nothing. The Homestay & Stays template, the booking engine and the dashboard are free to publish on a SitesPlaced address, with unlimited bookings and 0% commission. Your own domain, such as yourhomestay.com, is from ₹199 a month.
Can I list my homestay on Airbnb before it is registered?
Register first. Some states expect your registration number on every listing; Airbnb’s guidance for Goa, for example, asks hosts to display their registration certificate number and says operating without registration may not be permitted under Goa law.
Open with a website that takes bookings
Rooms, prices for every night, the total with GST, request-to-book or instant booking, and a dashboard for arrivals and payments. Free to publish, 0% commission.
