Five booked in Bengaluru for renting out houses illegally to foreigners

BENGALURU: Five people have been booked for violating rules while renting out houses to foreign nationals.

During a special drive, CCB sleuths identified 10 overseas citizens overstaying and shifted them to a detention centre after producing them before the Foreigners Regional Registration Office last week. The landlords, who rented out their houses to these overseas nationals without informing the FRRO, were also booked under the Foreigners Act. The houses were rented out at Ramamurthynagar, Banasawadi, Parppana Agrahara, Soladevanahalli, and Varthur.

Last month, city police commissioner B Dayananda announced that 70 houseowners had been booked in the past couple of years for allegedly violating the Act by renting out houses to foreign nationals without informing the FRRO. As per rules, house owners must furnish the details of their foreign tenants on the FRRO portal within 24 hours of renting out their premises. The details must be submitted in Form C, available online.

A houseowner at Bandepalya, in the southeastern part of the city, was convicted last month by a local court for violating the Act and was fined Rs 5,000. "The houseowners have to keep a printout after the approval from FRRO. In the past couple of years, we registered criminal cases against 70 owners for violating section 7 of the Foreigners Act. Out of 70 cases, 42 cases are under trial, and a conviction in one case was pronounced," a senior officer told TOI.

Those wishing to know more on the rules on renting out houses to foreigners can visit indianfrro.gov.in.frro/formc/dummy1.jsp.