Why would there be a need for hotels that cater to unmarried couples?

It was after 11 pm, and Sumit Anand and his girlfriend needed a room for the night. But staff at the north Indian hotel peppered the couple with “bizarre questions,” recalls Anand. “Some were even concerned about the fact we belonged to different faiths.” The biggest sticking point, though, was that the tired couple weren’t married.

That incident, in Jim Corbett National Park in the northern state of Uttarakhand, was when Anand decided things needed to change. India has no law that prohibits consenting adults from booking a hotel room. But deep-seated conservatism and a taboo on premarital sex mean most Indian hotels, apart from high-end four- or five-star establishments, are reluctant to rent rooms to unmarried adults. Hotels generally insist couples either provide a marriage certificate or ID before letting them check in. Hotel management is also worried about police raids under archaic catchall public decency laws, say industry insiders.

A wave of hotel aggregators are emerging across India that provide affordable — a room can cost as little as $15 a night — and safe accommodations for young unmarried couples. These aggregators find and verify partner hotels that are willing to not only rent to unmarried couples but will also ensure they aren’t harassed. The websites are tapping into a growing need: On average, Indians are remaining unmarried a year longer than they were a decade ago. The trend, in turn, is offering a solution to other conservative societies where premarital sex isn’t illegal, yet remains taboo.