Is Airbnb Legal in India? (2026 Answer)

"Is Airbnb legal in India?" usually gets a yes-or-no answer online. The honest answer is yes, but the conditions depend on where the property is. A villa in Goa, a homestay in Kerala and a flat in a Mumbai housing society are each governed by different rules. This page sets out how it works across India in 2026.

Layer 1: your state

India has no national licence for homestays or holiday rentals. Tourism is largely a state subject, and most states that see real homestay demand have their own registration scheme. In the past two years, almost all of them have tightened or rewritten their rules:

• Goa requires registration and, since January 2026, the registration number on every listing.
• Kerala makes classification mandatory, and only for homes where the owner lives.
• Himachal Pradesh banned homestays in leased houses and flats in 2025.
• Uttarakhand limited homestays to permanent residents in May 2026 and cancelled 103 registrations in Dehradun alone.
• Rajasthan went the other way in February 2026, dropping its owner-residence rule.
• Karnataka launched a registration drive, and its High Court asked for a fuller homestay policy.

The details, including room limits, fees and who qualifies, are in our state-by-state homestay registration guide. If you're in Goa, the Goa-specific answer goes further.

Layer 2: your city

Big cities are adding their own rules on top. Mumbai's municipal corporation has approved a Short Term Rental Licensing Policy, which it says will be implemented shortly. It requires a BMC licence before listing, a no-objection from the housing society, an occupancy certificate for the building, police reporting of guests and a licence charge of 1% of net revenue.

Delhi withdrew its Bed & Breakfast scheme in June 2026 after a fire at a Malviya Nagar B&B killed 21 people, and is working on a replacement policy. Until it's final, fresh B&B registrations are on hold.

Layer 3: your building

This is the layer most first-time hosts miss. Even where the state allows short-term rentals, a housing society can restrict them through its bye-laws and general body resolutions. In March 2026, a Mumbai cooperative court called listing flats for short stays on web portals "nothing but commercial activity", and in December 2025 the Bombay High Court said a member couldn't host paying guests while a society resolution against it stood. Our guide to Airbnb in a housing society covers what that means in practice.

In one lineAirbnb is legal in India. What decides whether your listing is legal is your state, your city and your building.

Rules that apply everywhere

• Foreign guests: every foreign national, including OCI cardholders, must be reported on Form C within 24 hours of arrival under the Immigration and Foreigners Act, 2025. Form C guide.
• GST: registration once turnover crosses ₹20 lakh a year. Stays up to ₹7,500 a night are taxed at 5%, and stays above that at 18%. GST for Airbnb hosts.
• Income tax: rental income is taxable, and platforms deduct 0.1% TDS from payouts.
• Guest ID: hosts should check government photo ID for every adult guest. Several states require guest registers to be kept for years.

Is it legal for guests?

Yes, everywhere in India. The rules above apply to hosts. As a guest, the useful checks are whether the listing shows a state registration number where one is required, and whether you're paying through the platform rather than directly. Unmarried couples can legally stay together too: see our guide on that question.

Where Wayzyy fits

We built Wayzyy around this reality. Hosts are ID-verified, properties are checked before they go live, and in Goa we check the tourism registration number before a listing earns the Wayzyy Verified badge. We're starting in Goa and expanding across India state by state, with each state's rules built into how listings are verified.

This page summarises published rules and news reports as of November 2026. It isn't legal advice.