March 2002 : Page No.

10

Recent Amendments on
Karnataka Rent Control Act.
The Karnataka Rent Act, 1999 and Rent Rules, 2001 provide for the regulation of rent
and eviction of tenants and other related matters. It aims at balancing the interests of
the landlord and the tenant and to encourage future construction activities.
The Act does not apply to the buildings belonging to State and Central
Governments. Co-operative Societies, Market Committee, Mujarai, or religious and
charitable institutions, wakf building, tenancy created by government grant and to
the premises whose rent is more than Rs. 3500 for month in part A of first Schedule
i.e. areas within the limits of cities under Corporation Act within 3-kilometer radius
and more than Rs. 2000 for month in other areas and the premises constructed or
renovated for a period of 15 years and nonresidential buildings less than 14 squares
and also group of buildings exempted by State Government.
According to the Act, Family means wife or husband or dependent/s of the person;
Landlord means a person is entitled to receive the rent of the premises on his own
account or on behalf of any other person; Tenant means an occupier of a premises
belonging to another for rent.
The tenancy agreement shall be in writing. If there is no agreement, the tenant and
the landlord shall enter in to an agreement of tenancy and deposit a copy of it before
the prescribed authority. If an agreement is not filed with regard to the tenancy then
the tenant and the landlord shall file the particulars about such tenancy before the
Controller.
In case of death of tenant the tenancy shall devolve for five years from the date of
death of the tenant to his or her successors, namely, his wife/ her husband, children,
parents and widow daughter-in-law in that order, provided they were the
dependants living with the tenant in the premises and they do not own or occupy
any other premises in the same locality. However non-dependents who were living
with the tenant and those who own premises in the same area may also continue
possession of the premises for one year from the date of death of the tenant.
The rent payable is either the rent agreed to between the tenant and the landlord or
the enhanced or the standard rent. Standard Rent is the rent calculated on the basis
of ten per cent per annum on the aggregate amount of the cost of construction and
the market price of the land comprised in the premises on the date of
commencement of construction which will include the cost of electrical fittings,
water pumps, overhead tanks, water sewage and other fixtures and fittings. The
Controller, the prescribed authority, is empowered to fix the Standard Rent.
The amount paid to the Government for the purchase of the premises, shall be . the
construction cost which can be increased up to 30% for expenditure incurred by the
owner.

Besides the rent, the tenant is liable to pay amenity charges up to 15%, maintenance
charges @ 10% of the rent and pro rata property tax (i.e. the difference between
previous a and present year property taxes) are payable by tenant.
The landlord can increase the rent to the extent of 10% if he has incurred expenditure
for the improvement of the premises. But he cannot collect unlawful charges from
the tenant or from his dependents. The tenant can pay decreased rent if there is
decrease or diminution of accommodation.
As regards revision of rent, the landlord shall give notice to the tenant of his
intention to revise the rent of the premises and recover it as long as it is lawful. The
landlord shall be entitled to recover from the tenant the amount paid by him
towards the electricity and water charges, which is ordinarily payable by the tenant.
It is the duty of the landlord to keep the premises in good condition and it is the
bounden duty of the tenant to keep the premises in good and tenantable condition.
The landlord or the person authorized by him has the right to enter and inspect the
premises after giving sufficient notice to the tenant.
During the course of tenancy, the tenant shall not carry out any demolition or
alteration work in the premises without the written consent of the landlord
failing which it shall be treated by the landlord as damage done to the premises let
out to the tenant.
The landlord shall be violating the law if he cuts off electric and water supply to the
client without sufficient reason. If the tenant is deprived of the essential services, he
may approach the controller to redress his grievance.
Tenant cannot claim any payment for relinquishing / transferring / assigning
tenancy. An application may be made to the Controller with in 2 years to fix
standard rent even for sub-tenant with the assistance of Valuers. Interim
rent/charges may be fixed or increased during pendency of case.
Tenant has to pay rent before the 15th and later with 12% interest and the landlord
has to issue receipt against such rent and refusal to do shall attract a fine which will
be twice the rent amount paid for the premises. The landlord is duty bound to
refund the excess rent received to the tenant.
Tenants may deposit rents/ charges with the Controller within 21 days of due date
otherwise it is invalid unless the landlord has withdrawn the amount. Landlord
shall withdraw the amount deposited by the tenant within 5 years.
Every intermediary or estate agent shall register in Form 8 with 100 rupees as fees
and obtain certificate, valid for 5 years, and renew it every 5 years with the
concerned Controller. Every intermediary/estate agent shall file information and
returns within 30 days.

The Court, District Judge or High Court shall make recovery of any premises in
favour of the landlord against the tenant on the ground, inter alia, that the tenant has
defaulted in payment of rent and other charges legally recoverable from the tenant
within two months from the date of issue of notice demanding payment of rent. The
Court can, by an order, direct the tenant to vacate the premises if he fails to pay the
landlord or deposits the amount into Court within one month from the date of the
order, an amount calculated on the basis of the rent last paid for the period for which
the arrears of rent and other legally recoverable charges and the rent for the
subsequent periods
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