In a month of April 2020 the Housing
Department of Maharashtra issued a circular asking landlords and house owners
to postpone the collection of rent in view of the lockdown situation for
tenants for at least three months. It has also been said that landlords should
not evict tenants for not paying rent during this period.
The circular signed by Housing Secretary
Sanjay Kumar went viral on social media. Many zamindars are within a fixed
range whether the government had the legal power to enforce it.
The lockdown has an adverse effect on people's
income and employment. “Many people face difficult financial situations. A
large number of people are not able to pay their regular rent. Therefore,
recovery of rent should be postponed for at least three months and no tenant
should be excluded for non-payment of rent, said in the circular.
The proposal is to be implemented with
immediate effect. Issuers have gone well with landlords whose only source of
income is rent. However, in the words of Housing Minister Jitendra Awadh, “Many
people are experiencing economic difficulties as a result of the epidemic. The
government has taken this step keeping in mind that it will be difficult for
tenants to pay the rent in future.
Rents in Mumbai are skyrocketing and the move
is a sigh of relief for the majority of tenants. Rajesh Prajapati, a member of
the managing committee of the Housing Chamber of the Government of Maharashtra,
said, "At the moment, the government feels that landlords are in a better
position for economic devastation based on rental income."
