Govt Likely To Amend Delhi Rent Act

The government is likely to introduce a bill amending the Delhi Rent Control Act during the current session of Parliament. The Union ministry for urban development is working on the draft bill following opposition to the Act by an all-party committee.

The new bill will provide for more safeguards to tenants relating to rent increase and their eviction. This assurance was given by Union minister for urban development U Ventakaswarlu to members of an all-party committee recently. The ministry is working on various suggestions, including those given by the Union home ministry and the all-party committee.

Even though the Delhi Rent Control Bill was passed in Parliament and subsequently got Presidential assent, various political parties and traders associations had opposed it, and had demanded that the radical provisions be watered down.

According to the Act, the landlord is empowered to take possession of the premises from a tenant if he requires it for his own use. It has been provided that the landlords affidavit to the rent authority, saying he needs the premise for his personal use, should deemed to be true.

Such an affidavit is considered enough to evict the tenant.

The amendment bill is expected to empower the tenant to submit a counter-affidavit to the competent authority. A provision is likely to be inserted by which eviction on the ground of bonafide use of the premises by the landlord is made applicable in respect of future tenancies only.

The Act provides for vacation of premises on the ground of repairs of the building. It has been suggested that the tenant should be given the right to carry out the repairs at his own cost if he so desires without handing over, even temporarily, the posssession of premises to the landlord for such repairs.

According to the Act, all tenancies will have to be compulsorily registered, with the agreement being for a period of one year that will be renewable only with mutual consent.

Both parties will be bound by the agreement and the tenant will be required to vacate the premises upon the end of the agreement period.

The rent can be increased in proportion to the annual increase in inflation.

The amended version specifies that there is no need of registration of the existing tenancies and only those existing tenancies will need to be registered which are specified by the registration\stamp act.