“Check-in must be done in person”. This, in summary, says the new circular from the Ministry of the Interior which has put keyboxes out of action: the padlocks that have popped up almost everywhere in Milan and other cities in recent months to speed up access to B&Bs.
The rationale behind the circular is only one: greater safety. Hosts must ensure that their guests are actually the owners of the documents. Therefore you will have to physically show the documents to the host. Stop, therefore, the delivery of keys through lockboxes (but the same goes for digital access codes).
Because taking Airbnb locks off the streets isn’t enough
No more padlocks for check-in
The Interior Ministry document dates back to November 18th and is based on the procedures for “identification of people hosted in accommodation facilities”. In short, we are talking about the check-in locks in which the “hosts” leave the keys to the rented apartments. The customer, after sending his identity document, receives a code to unlock the device and thus take the keys; or he received the code to directly access the apartment.
The ministry explained that managers of accommodation facilities “are required to verify the identity of guests” in person and no longer remotely. The latter method, in fact, “does not guarantee verification of the correspondence of the document to its bearer”.
“Security Risks”
The Interior Ministry writes, in the circular, that “the automated management of check-in and entry into the facility, without visual identification of the guests, constitutes a procedure that risks” going against the rules that regulate access to accommodation facilities. By sending the documents electronically, it cannot be ruled out that “the facility may be occupied by one or more individuals whose details remain unknown to the competent police station” to which hosts and hoteliers have the duty to communicate the guests’ details.
Hosted Web
A notice has been published on the “Housing Web” page of the State Police, the portal where managers of hotel services and all other accommodation facilities must communicate the details of the people staying.
“It is reiterated that the managers of accommodation facilities of any kind or type have the obligation to communicate the personal details of the guests as shown by the identity card (or other identification document). Therefore, in order to verify this correspondence, forms of remote or remote check-in are not permitted or via telematic or electronic tools or social platforms. The personal details – collected on site from the identity document – must then be communicated via the hosted web portal according to the methods indicated by the decree of the Minister of the Interior of 7 January 2013, as modified by the decree of the Minister of the Interior of 16 September 2021. 21″.
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