Chandigarh, Aug 21 - The bed and breakfast (B&B) scheme started with much fanfare here last September to give a boost to tourism has run into rough weather. Authorities say landlords are violating rules, while the landlords say the authorities are being influenced by hotel owners who do not want the scheme to succeed.

The Chandigarh administration has decided to restructure the scheme altogether after a high-level inquiry ordered Aug 5 to probe alleged violation of rules by landlords registered under this scheme.

'We have found certain violations and now onwards we have decided to make the rules more stringent so that there would be no room left for any kind of lapse. Everything will be properly restructured and fresh applications would be invited from the interested families,' Samwartak Singh, director of tourism, told IANS.

Twenty-five families were registered under the now-scrapped scheme, meant to offer a home ambience to tourists at a reasonable cost.

The landlords had been allowed to offer a maximum of five rooms and to charge Rs.700 a day for a room designated 'silver' and Rs.900 for a room designated 'gold', including breakfast.

'During the investigation, we found that some of the families have converted their houses into mini-hotels or guest houses. They were offering 10 to 12 rooms and were charging exorbitant amounts from the tourists,' said a senior official of the administration, requesting anonymity.

'We have issued notices to the violators and very soon legal action will be taken against them. We are planning to slap a hefty fine on the violators to set an example to others.'

In reaction, most of the families opted out of the scheme.

'The Chandigarh administration is working under the influence of a strong lobby of hoteliers.