Press Statement for immediate payment of rent to property owners in Delhi

Subject: 1. Demand for immediate payment of rent to property owners in Delhi; 2. Implementation of the   Model Tenancy Act, 2019 pending before   the Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs

The Committee for the Repeal of Delhi Rent Control Act (CRDRCA) has been receiving information and distress communication from owners of properties in Delhi to the effect that tenants (both rent-controlled or otherwise) have been refusing to pay rental dues leaving owners subsisting on rental income to be facing insecurity and bleak future. Many of these owners are senior citizens with age related ailments and presently confined to their homes in view of the COVID-19 lockdown. The Union Home Ministry would be aware that many owners of property are getting pittance as rent from rent controlled tenants; when even this meagre rent is not paid the owners would have nothing to fall back upon in the event of medical crises in their families. Mr. Sundeep Singh Chachal from Karol Bagh said that the government has virtually stopped income of owners since 1958 without due compensation and now non-payment of rent by tenants is akin to submitting owners to capital punishment.

CRDRCA also condemns the move by some lawyers to use the instrument of PIL to get exemption from monthly rental for premises leased by them for professional/ office purposes. Mercifully the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India refused to entertain the petition on 30.04.2020.

The CRDRCA reiterates that refusal to pay rent is violative of rental laws in operation and qualifies the tenant to be evicted. The CRDRCA demands that:

1.      The Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs be directed to pay the rent to owners if the tenant is refusing to pay the rent.

2.      The Model Tenancy Act, 2019 be implemented in Delhi through an ordinance. It should be applicable to all properties without any discrimination.

Shobha Aggarwal

President, CRDRCA