BMC to randomly inspect starred hotels, restaurants via lottery

Mumbai: The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation will use lottery system to select starred hotels and first-class restaurants to conduct cleanliness audit and inspection following complaints by some hotel owners that the sleuths conduct inspection as per their discretion.

Every Saturday, inspectors designated at each of 24 wards would conduct a lottery on random sampling method and pick names of hotels and restaurants where checks have to be conducted, without informing their owners, the BMC stated in a release today.

Necessary action will be taken if lapses are found, it added. The move came against the backdrop of the BMC commissioner asking his officials to conduct the raids more transparently. "Inspectors have prepared the lists of the such hotels and first class restaurants falling in their jurisdiction.

Then on the basis of random sampling method, inspectors will draw a lottery and whichsoever name would come up, inspectors would conduct the inspection as per the prescribed method," as per the statement. The city has 50 starred hotels and 1,679 first class restaurants spreading across 24 wards. K-East (16) and K-West (11) have most of the starred hotels while K-West (198) and H-West (142) have most of the first class hotels.

"In total, there are 1,729 hotels and first class restaurants in the city and inspectors have been asked to carry out the inspection in such a way that all the hotels and restaurants get inspected at least once in three months," said a senior BMC official entrusted with the job of supervising the inspection drive.

"Currently, inspectors used to pick the hotels and restaurants as per their convenience and discretion, which is opposed by hotel owners. Acting upon few complaints filed by the hotel-owners, the BMC commissioner asked officials to pick the hotels only through a lottery," added another official.