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18 months on, Chandigarh Tenancy Act awaits Parliament approval
In February 2022, the UT administration had first written to the central government to approve and enact the long-awaited Chandigarh Tenancy Act for quicker disposal of landlord-tenant disputes
Though the issue of Model Tenancy Act was raised in the Lok Sabha last week, there was no mention of Chandigarh that has been awaiting enactment of a city-specific legislation for 18 months.
In February 2022, the UT administration had first written to the central government to approve and enact the long-awaited Chandigarh Tenancy Act for quicker disposal of landlord-tenant disputes. But close to two years later, it has yet to be tabled in the Parliament.
At the Lok Sabha session last week, Union minister for housing and urban affairs Hardeep Puri said the states of Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Assam had notified their revised tenancy laws.
He further stated that the relationship between landlord and tenant was a state subject. But with a view to assist the states/Union territories (UTs) in overhauling their tenancy legislations to promote rental housing, the ministry prepared a Model Tenancy Act (MTA).
After approval of MTA by the Union cabinet, it was circulated to all states and UTs on June 7, 2021, for adoption by way of either enacting fresh legislation or amending existing rental laws suitably.
Before the 2021 central law came in place, the Chandigarh administration, in June 2019, had prepared a draft based on Centre’s Model Tenancy Act, 2015. But two months later, the government proposed a new Act in August 2019 and it was finally approved by the Union cabinet in June 2021.
Sorabh Kumar Arora, joint secretary, estate, UT, said, “We were expecting that the Chandigarh-specific Act will be tabled in the Parliament for a final nod, but it was not taken up. It is a long-pending demand of the people and will become a law only after the Parliament’s go-ahead.”
Another officer said it was also expected to be tabled in the monsoon session held in August, but it didn’t happen. “We will write to the ministry again to take up the issue,” the officer added.
To replace 70-year-old rulebook
Notably, according to the 2011 Census, Chandigarh has the highest incidence of tenant population, with nearly half of the city’s population (47%) living in rented accommodations.
The proposed Act is aimed at replacing the existing tenancy provisions of the more than 70 years old East Punjab Urban Rent Restriction Act, 1949. It is considered outdated, particularly in resolving the tenant-landlord disputes amid the changing housing and business expansion needs.
Federation of Sector Welfare Associations Chandigarh (FOSWAC) chairperson Baljinder Singh Bittu said, “In the absence of the Act, landlords are often apprehensive of renting out their properties. A large number of properties are already stuck in legal disputes.”
