Delhi Police to focus more on core duties with businesses getting licence from local bodies: CM

New Delhi, Jun 23 (PTI) Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta said on Monday that with the police being relieved of the responsibility of issuing licences to businesses, the force will now have more time to focus on their core duties such as crime control, women's safety and public security.

This is a "historic day" for Delhi. With this major reform, police will now be able to dedicate their energy and resources to actual policing, she said.

Gupta announced that establishments like hotels, motels, guest houses, restaurants, swimming pools, auditoriums, discotheques, video game parlours and amusement parks will no longer need to obtain a no-objection certificate (NOC) from the Delhi Police to run their operations.

Instead, the power to issue such licences will now lie with local bodies like the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD), New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) or the Delhi Cantonment Board.

"This was a long-pending demand of the people and business community of Delhi for over 40 years. Nearly 25,000 establishments were getting delayed and around 10 to 20 lakh people associated with them were suffering due to this public management bottleneck. That ends today," Gupta said.

She credited the central government for accepting the Delhi government's request and said the change aligns with the Centre's 'Minimum Government, Maximum Governance' approach and its push for ease of doing business.

"Double licensing used to create confusion about who would do what. With this reform, we are bringing in a single-window system to ensure transparency and efficiency. This is the benefit of a double-engine government," the chief minister added.

Gupta also said Union Home Minister Amit Shah had made it clear that police should not be burdened with non-core functions like issuing business licences. The subject of policing in Delhi falls under the jurisdiction of the Union Home Ministry. PTI NSM NSM KSS KSS