In a significant move, Lieutenant Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena has relieved Delhi Police from the responsibility of issuing licences or No Objection Certificates (NOCs) for business activities such as hotels, motels, guest houses, restaurants (eating houses), swimming pools, auditoriums, video game parlours, discotheques and amusement parks. These powers will now be transferred to relevant local bodies like the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD), New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC), and Delhi Cantonment Board, among others. Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta on Sunday  announced key administrative reforms  saying the step was intended to make the licensing process more accessible and efficient by assigning it to agencies that are already responsible for urban planning and municipal oversight. Depending on their location, establishments will now need to approach the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD), New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) or the Delhi Cantonment Board for licencing, instead of visiting police stations. She added that the reform would help reduce procedural overlap and allow law enforcement to concentrate on policing and security functions. CM Gupta called this a historic moment for Delhi. She said that this decision is timely, visionary and practical — both from a citizen and administrative standpoint. The decision taken by Lieutenant Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena on the governments request will prove to be a powerful and effective step toward building a Viksit  Delhi. The burden of licensing on Delhi Police was affecting their core responsibilities related to maintaining law and order. Moreover, the licensing process was time-consuming for businesses. The Chief Minister noted that this change will enhance coordination within the administrative structure, and allow the police to focus on crucial issues like public safety, crime prevention, and womens security. This is a new chapter in making Delhi a more efficient, accountable, and well-governed Capital, she added. This change enables a clearer division of roles. While civic bodies will handle commercial permissions, the police can dedicate more focus to core responsibilities such as law and order, she said during the announcement. Officials said this is expected to reduce delays and bring greater predictability to regulatory approvals. The reform was implemented following consultations with the Union Ministry of Home Affairs and Lieutenant Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena. Both supported the idea of offloading non-policing tasks from the Delhi Police in order to increase efficiency in law enforcement. In his order, Lieutenant Govenror Vinai Kumar Saxena said, Now, therefore, in exercise of powers under section 28 (2) read with section 4 of Delhi Police Act, 1978, I hereby withdraw the sanction granted to Commissioner of Police, Delhi, for issuance of regulations under Section 28 (1) of the Delhi Police Act, 1978, covering the seven activities mentioned at Para one  and Commissioner of Police, Delhi, is directed to issue a notification repealing the said regulations with immediate effect. The repeal notification shall be given wide publicity by Delhi Police and Home Department. As per the order, a Committee under the chairmanship of the then Addl. Chief Secretary (Home), with officers of Delhi Police, Law and IT Department of GNCTD, as members, was constituted to look into the entire gamut of license/ NOCs/permissions, being granted by the Licensing Unit, Delhi Police and their relevance/need/justification in changed scenario. After considering the report of the above Committee, the then Chief Secretary, Delhi, while observing that Delhi Police is facing shortage of staff, which affects its core policing duties, recommended that Delhi Police be relieved of the responsibilities of regulating licences in the respect of above seven trades. Business owners in Delhi have welcomed the abolishment of the need for a Delhi Police licence for commercial establishments, and called it a major relief from red tape.        Brijesh Goyal, the Chairman of the Chamber of Trade and Industry (CTI), said the move will ease the compliance burden on traders, who were already required to obtain clearances from multiple departments such as the Municipal Corporation of Delhi, Delhi Pollution Control Committee, Fire Department, GST, and Excise. There was no need for a separate police licence. Traders were not comfortable with this additional layer of regulation, which often led to delays and complications, Goyal said. The decision comes after a recent meeting between CTI and Delhi Industry Minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa, where hotel and guest house operators appealed for the removal of police licence from needed permissions.

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