New rent law is a blackmailing tool, say tenants

“We are already under tremendous pressure from builders and landlords to sign up for redevelopment, and the government’s new rent law will be the proverbial last straw,” says 76-year-old Girgaon resident and tenancy rights activist Manohar Samant, adding that if the existing nominal rents in cessed buildings are brought at par with market rates under the new rent law, tenants will be left at the mercy of landlords and builders.

One of the provisions of the Model Residential Tenancy Act, proposed last week by the Union ministry of housing & urban poverty alleviation, is to review the existing rents and bring them at par with prevailing market rates. This will directly affect the lives of lakhs of tenants staying in the 16,000-odd cessed buildings in the city, who are currently paying a monthly rent as low as Rs100.

The new rent act is under the umbrella of Centre’s Rajiv Awaas Yojna programme, and to ensure its implementation by state governments, the release of funds under JNNURM will be linked to the execution of the new act.

Calling the government’s bluff on pro-tenant policies, tenants say that if the government really has welfare of tenants and even landlords at heart, it should facilitate the allocation of funds so that tenants can go for self-development instead of selling out to builders. “The construction cost is just Rs2,000 per sq ft, the builder’s selling price is Rs22,000 psf and it’s anyone’s guess where the difference is going,” said Samant, adding that the standard of living of the new building is so high that eventually the old tenant has to move out. “The tenants, who are used to paying a rent of Rs100 are unable to shell out the monthly maintenance charge of Rs5,000,” he said.