Shubhadeep Choudhury
Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, November 24
The Urban Development Department of Haryana has proposed a new rent act for the state.
The act is said to have been formulated to fulfil one of the necessary conditions for getting grants from the Urban Reforms Fund (URF). Official sources here said that recently the state government had entered into a formal agreement with the Union Ministry of Urban Development for support from the URF. “A new policy for rent control is one of the preconditions for getting money from the URF,” the sources said and added that the state government would be soon getting Rs 10.70 crore from the fund for toning up the urban infrastructure in some of the towns.
It was learnt that since the new policy contained some fundamentally new features, it was decided to formulate an act instead of amending the existing one in this area. The draft would be first given to the Cabinet for approval.
They said that one of the most important features of the proposed act was constitution of a rent authority and a rent tribunal and barring the jurisdiction of all courts except the Supreme Court for cases relating to rent disputes.
The rent tribunal shall consist of a chairman and at least three members. The chairman shall be either a retired or serving High Court judge or should have held the office of member of the tribunal for three years or more or a member of the Indian Legal Service and held a post of Grade I for three years or held the post of Secretary in the Law Department of a state government for three years. The members also would have to be either from the legal field or should have held the post of rent authority for at least eight years.
The sources said that another feature of the proposed act was that it would make written agreements between landlords and tenants compulsory. Registration of the written agreements would also be made compulsory except in certain circumstances. The act would also limit the inheribility of tenancies.
The proposed act would also fix new rates of rent payable and provide for its determination, enhancement and revision. The proposed act would also provide for limited period of tenancy and automatic eviction of tenants upon expiry of such tenancy. It would also ensure adequate maintenance and repair of rented premises and facilitate further improvement and additions and alterations of such premises.
