1. This Law may be cited as the Hotels, Lodging Houses and Public Buildings (Regulation) Law.
2. In this Law-
“hotel” includes a boarding house and any building or premises used for the accommodation of the public other than a lodging house, situated elsewhere than within the limits of any municipal corporation, in which lodgings are provided and provisions are supplied by the keeper or manager thereof;
“lodging house” includes a khan and any building or premises or any part thereof used for the accommodation of the public other than a hotel, situated elsewhere than within the limits of any municipal corporation, in which lodgings are provided by rooms or portions of rooms or in which the sleeping accommodation provided for lodgers is such that two or more persons though strangers to one another may occupy one and the same room or in which the same class of accommodation is furnished by an employer of workmen to the workmen employed by him;
“public building” includes any restaurant, theatre, cinematograph threatre or any other building used for the entertainment of the public, situated elsewhere than within the limits of any municipal corporation.
3. The Governor in Council may make Regulations to be published in the Gazette for all or any of the following matters:-
(a) sanitation in hotels, lodging houses or public buildings;
(b) the cleanliness and disinfection of the premises, and of all instruments, appliances, furniture, utensils, fixtures and accessories used in connection with the business carried on in hotels, lodging houses or public buildings;
(c) the protection from contamination by dust, flies and otherwise of all articles intended, exposed or offered for sale for human consumption in hotels, lodging houses or public buildings;
(d) the precautions to be taken against the spread of infection or communication of disease from, to, or amongst persons on premises used as hotels, lodging houses or public buildings, whether occupiers, employers, employees, guests or customers;
(e) the painting, varnishing, distempering or lime-washing of the inner and outer walls, and of all fixtures, counters, shelves, doors, windows and partitions of hotels, lodging houses or public buildings;
(f) the duties of owners and occupiers with regard to the removal and disposal of all refuse and waste matters from hotels, lodging houses or public buildings;
(g) the inspection of hotels, lodging houses or public buildings;
(h) the seizure, destruction or disposal of foodstuffs or liquids intended for human consumption which are unfit for such consumption found or kept in hotels, lodging houses or public buildings;
(i) accommodation and safety in hotels, lodging houses or public buildings;
(j) the design, including plans, elevations, sections and specifications of hotels, lodging houses or public buildings hereafter to be constructed or erected;
(k) the appointment of persons or committees to supervise or perform any operation, matter or thing prescribed by any Regulations made hereunder;
(l) the licensing of loding houses, the appointment of licensing authorities therefor, the terms and conditions under which licences may be granted, suspended or revoked, the form of licences and the form of applications therefor and the fees to be paid in respect of such licences;
(m) the management and control of lodging houses and the temporary closing thereof and the registration of persons staying or employed therein.
4. The Governor in Council may by Order to be published in the Gazette direct that this Law shall be applied to hotels, lodging houses or public buildings situated within the limits of any municipal corporation, and from and after the date of the publication of such Order, or such date as may be named in that behalf in the Order, this Law shall be in full force and effect in respect of hotels, lodging houses or public buildings situated within the limits of the municipal corporation to which such Order refers:
Provided that and notwithstanding anything in any other Law contained-
(a) the Municipal Council exercising authority within the limits of the municipal corporation to which such Order refers may make bye-laws for all or any of the matters specified in section 3;
(b) any bye-laws made by any Municipal Council under paragraph (a) of this proviso shall be subject to the approval of the Governor, and shall not come into force until they have been approved by the Governor and published in the Gazette;
(c) if at any time it shall appear to the Governor that for all or any of the matters specified in section 3 there are no bye-laws for the time being in force for hotels, lodging houses or public buildings within the limits of a municipal corporation to which this Law has been made applicable by Order as aforesaid, the Governor may by notice require the Municipal Council concerned to make and submit to him such bye-laws; and if the Municipal Council makes default in making bye-laws accordingly and obtaining approval thereof within the time limited by the notice, the Governor may make bye-laws, and such bye-laws shall on being published in the Gazette have the same force and effect as if they had been made by the Municipal Council and approved by the Governor.
5. Where under any Regulations or bye-laws made under this Law relating to the licensing of lodging houses a licence has been refused, suspended or revoked the person aggrieved thereby may, within fourteen days of the date of notification to him of such refusal, suspension or revocation, appeal through the Commissioner to the Governor in Council, whose decision thereon shall be final and conclusive.
6. The Regulations or bye-laws made under this Law may provide for the imposition on offenders against the same of penalties not exceeding £25 for each offence, and in case of a continuing offence a further penalty not exceeding £25 for each day during which the offence continues:
Provided that all penalties recovered under any bye-laws made under this Law for offences committed within the limits of a municipal corporation shall be paid to the fund of the municipal corporation concerned.
7. All Orders, Regulations and bye-laws made under the Hotels and Public Buildings Regulation Law, 1928, and subsisting on the date of the commencement of this Law shall, in so far as they are not inconsistent with the provisions of this Law, remain in force until revoked or replaced by Orders, Regulations or bye-laws made under the provisions of this Law.