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Chandigarh’s Tenancy Act to be tabled in Parliament in December
The Chandigarh Tenancy Act, aimed at regulating rent and striking a balance between rights and responsibilities of landlords and tenants, has been hanging fire for nearly eight years now.
Ten months after the UT administration approved and sent the long-awaited Chandigarh Tenancy Act to the Union government, the same will be tabled for approval and enactment at the winter session of the Parliament — which will be held between December 7 to 29.
The act, aimed at regulating rent and striking a balance between rights and responsibilities of landlords and tenants, has been hanging fire for nearly eight years now.
In February this year, the UT administration put its stamp on the act. The Union cabinet approved it soon after in June and it was then sent to the Parliament seeking a final nod.
UT adviser Dharam Pal said, “We are expecting that the act will be tabled before the winter session for the final nod. It is a long-pending demand of the people and will become a law after the Parliament’s nod”.
He added that the act, once materialised into a law, will not only regulate the landlord-tenant relationship, but also put an end to several hassles either party has to undergo in different dispute-related scenarios.
In a city where nearly half the population lives in rented accommodation, almost double the national average for urban areas, the administration has failed to put in place an up-to-date and city-centric Tenancy Act.
Speaking of the latest developments, the Federation of Sector Welfare Associations Chandigarh (FOSWAC) chairperson Baljinder Singh Bittu said it has been a long-pending demand of the people for the past several decades.
“In the absence of the act, landlords often fear giving their properties on rent. Also, at present, a large number of commercial properties are stuck in legal disputes,” he added.
At present, the archaic law governing tenant-landlord relations in Chandigarh – the East Punjab Urban Rent Restriction Act, 1949 – has for years been found inadequate and outdated in meeting the city’s changing housing and business expansion needs.
In June last year, the Centre had proposed a new Model Act, which was finally approved by the Union cabinet in June 2021, creating the Model Tenancy Act, 2021.
Following this, the administration decided to adopt the Model Tenancy Act, 2021, and in February this year, sent the proposed Chandigarh Tenancy Act, 2022, to the Union government for approval and enactment.
