Is it correct for the hotel to temporarily collect money instead of holding the citizen ID?

LE KHANH(Hai Duong City)

Reply:

According to regulations, hotels are responsible for checking the identity documents of guests, recording full information of guests in the management book (or entering full information into the computer) before allowing guests to enter the room and reporting their stay to the residence registration agency. According to Clause 8, Article 1 of Circular 66/2023/TT-BCA; Clause 2, Clause 3, Article 44 of Decree 96/2016/ND-CP:

Hotels do not have the right to temporarily hold guests' ID cards during their stay. Holding other people's ID cards if not permitted is against the law and may be subject to administrative penalties according to Point a, Clause 2, Article 10 of Decree 144/2021/ND-CP.

The hotel's temporary collection of 150,000 VND from you is a civil transaction agreed upon by the parties, so you can agree or disagree with this temporary collection.

However, if the hotel temporarily collects your money with the reason of keeping the guest's ID card during his stay and will return the money when he leaves, this is not in accordance with regulations, because the hotel does not have the right to temporarily keep the guest's ID card during his stay.

Thus, you can report the incident to the People's Committee at the commune level, the commune-level police or the district-level police for resolution (Articles 68 and 69 of Decree 144/2021/ND-CP).