Culture & Lifestyle / India’s Unmarried Lovers Get Safe Haven Thanks To Bold New Startup

India’s Unmarried Lovers Get Safe Haven Thanks To Bold New Startup

Culture & Lifestyle Apr 12, 2016

by Nomaan Khan

Many hotels in India refuse to rent rooms to unmarried couples, and consenting adults still get attitude from the "Indian culture" and moral police even though it's 2016. A new startup is about to change things up.

The Indian online startup StayUncle is playing hero to couples looking for a little bit of privacy when it comes to getting intimate. The startup has partnered with hotels to help people stay safe from conservative eyes and let them rent rooms for eight hours at a time — as opposed to a full day or night.

^{Photo Credit: www.facebook.com}

BITS-Pilani graduate Sanchit Sethi is the brains behind StayUncle, and his idea is something the country sorely needed. Unmarried lovers have been victims of threats and harassment, some even being dragged out of their hotel rooms.

“There is no law in India that prohibits (unmarried) couples from renting a room,” Sanchit told Quartz. “As long as you have a government identity card, you should be given a room. We don’t live in the 1950s anymore. What we are trying to do is change the mindset of hoteliers.”

^{Photo Credit: Jayanta Shaw}

StayUncle was initially started with Sethi and a digital marketer. The original target was travellers looking for shorter stays, as Indian hotels only offer 24-hour reservations.

“What was surprising was that 99% of the enquiries we were receiving were from unmarried couples looking for rooms. We started fresh all over again. This time, with the focus on unmarried couples,” Sethi said.

The startup is currently connected to 34 hotels in Delhi and 10 in Mumbai, and StayUncle plans to spread its wings wider. Hotels like Oberoi and the Trident have also joined, but there are still mixed reviews, and some hotels want to avoid run-ins with the police.

“Out of 10 hotels we speak to, only two or three eventually sign up,” said Sethi. “This is a new industry and people often see this as going against the culture of the country and there is always the fear of moral policing.”

^{Photo Credit: Jon Hicks}

As StayUncle is helping couples get a room and avoid judgement, another goal they want to ensure is privacy. Hidden cameras have been found in hotels and change rooms, and Sethi and his team are dedicated to making sure their clients can avoid any breaches of privacy.

“If you see, we currently only tie up with hotels that have a reputation and they would not allow something that puts their business at stake,” said Sethi. “Of course, I wouldn’t say the problem can be completely eliminated, but we know that these hotels we tie up with would never ever do it.”

^{Main Image Photo Credit: www.mirror.co.uk}

Nomaan Khan

Author

After spending some time in a completely different field, Nomaan decided to drop it all and switch to Mohawk College to pursue his longtime interest in the world of Journalism. His experience working in multimedia platforms has helped him develop exceptional skills in thinking on his feet, being ...

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India’s Unmarried Lovers Get Safe Haven Thanks To Bold New Startup

by Nomaan Khan

Many hotels in India refuse to rent rooms to unmarried couples, and consenting adults still get attitude from the "Indian culture" and moral police even though it's 2016. A new startup is about to change things up.

Nomaan Khan

COMMENTS

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