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What does a background check consist of at hotels in India?

Many people who travel to India for business or pleasure are noticing that it's not as easy as it was before to simply book a hotel room for the night. That's because many hotels are doing everything in their power to prevent terrorist attacks.

On Nov. 26, 2008, a handful of tourist attractions in Mumbai, including two prominent hotels, were the target of terrorist attacks. The Taj Mahal Palace & Tower, which was the target of six explosions, and the Oberoi Trident, which was the target of one explosion, were among four locations attacked that day.

Since then, hotels in Mumbai have been ramping up their security efforts by using background check companies, appointing ex-armed forces personnel and installing new security devices in hopes of preventing further attacks.

According to an article by The Times of India, background check companies are seeing an influx of requests from new clients. Ashish Dehade, managing director of First Advantage, said his background check company has gone from serving a couple of hotels to serving more than 12 since last year.

"After the attacks, every hotel has felt the need to address security issues seriously," he said. "We conduct criminal record, education and reference checks of employees as well as contractual house-keeping staff who have access to guests' rooms."

Hotels have taken a number of other measures to ensure the safety of their staff and guests. Some hotels have installed baggage scanning machines, explosive detection devices and vehicle scanners. Many others are now requiring guests to provide proof of identification.

In addition, some hotels have instituted a policy requiring that staff members leave the premises within 20 minutes of finishing a shift. Colonel Sandeep Sudan, Regional Head, Mahindra Special Services Group, a corporate security risk consulting firm said,

"We have suggested hotels to adopt a 'role, time and zone' model, according to which the premises are divided into zones and each staff is designated to work in a particular zone," he said. "This restricts free access to the entire premises."

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