Shillong is witnessing a resounding boom in house rents, thanks to the authoritarian attitude of house owners who resort to ‘daylight extortion’ charging monthly rents that often goes to as high as Rs 25,000 per month in certain localities of the city.
What severely compounds the situation is the fact that the house owners also charge salami or advance rent that sometimes are as high as Rs two lakh in some cases.
The exorbitant house rents is a common phenomena in several ‘prime localities’ like Nongrim Hills, Laitumkhrah, Kench’s Trace, Mawbah (Barapathar), Upper Mawprem and Laban and its adjoining areas.
This scribe, over the past month, interacted with a number of people who live in rented houses in these localities and was informed that the house owners charge monthly rents according to their own whims and fancies and without following the guidelines laid down under the Meghalaya Urban Areas Rent Control Act (MUARCA), 1972 which exists in name only.
The tenants also alleged that they had to pay huge amounts of money as advance payments, which in some cases ranged from Rs 50,000 to Rs two lakh.
Another fact pointed out by the tenants was that the house rents were significantly higher in localities which had a majority non-tribal population, especially in the case of Mawbah, Upper Mawprem and Laban.
Meanwhile, this scribe filed an RTI application with the Urban Affairs department, which was subsequently forwarded to the Revenue and Disaster Management Department.
As per the RTI findings, it has been revealed that the Meghalaya Government does not have any control over the amount of rent charged by the house owners. The Meghalaya Urban Areas Rent Control Act (MUARCA), 1972 does not provide for a Rent Controller, that is, the authority to control the letting out and leasing of vacant buildings.
The Act only assumes significance when any dispute arises between house owners and tenants and such disputes are brought for adjudication before the court.
Interestingly the rent Control Act says that it is an Act to fix fair rents of houses situated within the limits of urban areas in Meghalaya and for matters connected therewith. The Act, in force since March 13, 1972, extends to all urban areas in Meghalaya.
As per the Act, in case of charging rent, Standard Rent in relation to any house means the rent calculated on the basis of annual payment of an amount equal to 7 ½ % of the aggregate amount of the estimated cost of construction and the market price of the land together with the total municipal taxes payable in respect of the house and Urban Immovable Property Tax under the Assam Urban Immovable Property Tax Act, 1969 and monthly rent shall be equal to one-twelfth of the annual payment so calculated.
While fixing the Standard Rent of the first floor or above in a multi-storied building, the value of the land is to be taken into consideration along with the construction costs etc., the Act mentions.
The Act also clearly specifies that notwithstanding any contract to the contrary, no landlord shall be entitled to charge rent for any house at a figure higher than the Standard Rent.
Another important clause in the Act says that if at any time, any addition, improvement or alteration (not being repairs) is effected at the landlord’s expense which was not taken into consideration in fixing the standard rent, then the landlord shall be entitled to have the monthly rent increased by an amount not exceeding one-twelfth of 7 ½ % per annum of the cost of such addition, improvement or alteration.
The Act also specifies that in case of any dispute regarding the rent payable in respect of any house, it shall be determined by the court. The court shall on application, made by either the landlord or the tenant issue notice on both the parties and after making such enquiry as it thinks fit determine the monthly rent for the house and the rent so determined shall be binding on both the parties.
The Act also allows that landlord to charge an additional amount per month on account of the furniture supplied by him, provided that such additional amount shall not exceed one-twelfth of 7 ½ % of the cost of such furniture.
All said and done, landlords and house owners in the city are having a field day in matters relating to house rent. As for the tenants, they will, for the time being, have to bear the brunt of their ‘house masters’. (By Rajib Roy)