Delhi Rent Act, 1995 Chapter I - Bare Act |
| State | Central Government |
| Year | 1995 |
| Section Title | Preliminary |
(1) This Act may be called the Delhi Rent Act, 1995.
(2) It extends to the areas included within the limits of the New Delhi Municipal Council and the Delhi Cantonment Board and to urban areas within the limits of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi for the time being:
Provided that the Central Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, exclude any area from the operation of this Act or any provision thereof:
Provided further that the Central Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, exclude any premises or class of buildings from the operation of this Act or any provision thereof.
(3) It shall come into force on such date as the Central Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, appoint.
In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires,--
(a) "Bench" means a Bench of the Tribunal;
(b) "Chairman" means the Chairman of the Tribunal;
(c) "fair rate" means the fair rate fixed under section 39 and includes the rate as revised under section 40;
(d) "hotel or lodging house" means a building or a part of a building where lodging, with or without board or other services, is provided for a monetary consideration;
(e) "landlord" means a person who, for the time being is receiving, or is entitled to receive, the rent of any premises, whether on his own account or on account of or on behalf of, or for the benefit of, any other person or as a trustee, guardian or receiver for any other person or who would so receive the rent or be entitled to receive the rent, if the premises were let to a tenant;
(f) "lawful increase" means an increase in rent permitted under the provisions of this Act;
(g) "manager of a hotel" includes any person in charge of the management of the hotel;
(h) "Member" means a Member of the Tribunal and includes the Chairman;
(i) "owner of a lodging house" means a person who receives or is entitled to receive whether on his own account or on behalf of himself and others or as an agent or a trustee for any other person, any monetary consideration from any person on account of board, lodging or other services provided in the lodging house;
(j) "premises"' means any building or part of a building which is, or is intended to be, let separately for use as a residence or for non-residential use or for any other purpose, and includes--
(i) the garden, grounds and out-houses, if any, appertaining to such building or part of the building;
(ii) any fittings to such building or part of the building for the more beneficial enjoyment thereof but does not include a room in a hotel or a lodging house;
(k) "prescribed" means prescribed by rules made under this Act;
(l) ''Rent Authority" means an authority appointed under sub-section (1) of section 43 and includes an additional Rent Authority appointed under sub-section (2) of that section;
(m) "standard rent", in relation to any premises, means the rent calculated under section 7;
(n) "tenant" means any person by whom or on whose account or behalf the rent of any premises is or, but for a special contract, would be payable, and includes--
(i) a sub-tenant;
(ii) any person continuing in possession after the termination of his tenancy.
but does not include--
(i) any person against whom an order or decree for eviction has been made, except where such decree or order for eviction is liable to be re-opened under the proviso to section 3 of the Delhi Rent Control (Amendment) Act, 1976(18 of 1976);
(ii) any person to whom a licenses as defined in section 52 of the Indian Easements Act, 1882 has been granted;
(o) "Tribunal" means the Delhi Rent Tribunal established under section 46;
(p) "urban area" has the same meaning as in the Delhi Municipal Corporation Act, 1957.
(1) Nothing in this Act shall apply--
(a) to any premises belonging to the Government or a local authority;
(b) to any tenancy or other like relationship created by a giant from the Government in respect of the premises taken on lease or requisitioned, by the Government:
Provided that where any premises belonging to Government have been or are lawfully let out by any person by virtue of an agreement with the Government or otherwise, then, notwithstanding any judgment, decree or order of any court or other authority, the provisions of this Act shall apply to such tenancy;
(c) to any premises, whether residential
(1) Notwithstanding anything contained in section 107 of he Transfer of Property Act, 1882(4 of 1882), no person shall, after the commencement of this Act, let or take on rent any premises except by an agreement in writing.
(2) Every agreement referred to in sub-section (1) or required to be registered under sub-section (3) shall be registered under the Registration Act, 1908(16 of 1908), within such period as may be prescribed and for this purpose the agreement shall be deemed to be a document for which registration is compulsory under section 17 of the said Act.
(3) Where, in relation to a tenancy created before the commencement of this Act.--
(a) an agreement in writing was entered into and was not registered under the Registration Act, 1908(16 of 1908), the landlord and the tenant shall jointly present a copy thereof for registration before the registering officer under the said Act;
(b) no agreement in writing was entered into, the landlord and the tenant shall enter into an agreement in writing with regard to that tenancy and present the same for registration before the registering officer under the said Act:
Provided that where the landlord and the tenant fail to present jointly a copy of tenancy agreement under clause (a) or fail to reach an agreement under clause (b) such landlord and the tenant shall separately file the particulars about such tenancy with the prescribed authority in such form and in such manner and within such period as may be prescribed.
(1) In the event of death of a tenant, the right of tenancy shall devolve for a period of ten years from the date of his death to his successors in the following order, namely:--
(a) spouse;
(b) son or daughter or where there are both son and daughter both of them;
(c) parents;
(d) daughter-in-law, being the widow of his pre-deceased son:
Provided that the successor has ordinarily been living in the premises with the deceased tenant as a member of his family up to the dale of his death and was dependent on the deceased tenant:
Provided further that a right to tenancy shall not devolve upon a successor in case such successor or his spouse or any of his dependent son or daughter is owning or occupying a residential premises in the National Capital Territory of Delhi.
(2) If a person, being a successor mentioned in sub-section (1), was ordinarily living in the premises with the deceased tenant but was not dependent on him on the date of his death, or he or his spouse or any of bis dependent son or daughter is owning of occupying a residential premises in the National Capital Territory of Delhi, such successor shall acquire a right to continue in possession as a tenant for a limited period of one year from the date of death of the tenant; and, on the expiry of that period, or on his death, whichever is earlier, the right of such successor to continue in possession of the premises shall become extinguished.
Explanation.--
For the removal of doubts, it is hereby declared that--
(a) where, by reason of sub-section (2), the right of any successor to continue in possession of the premises becomes extinguished, such extinguishment shall not affect the right of any other successor of the same category to continue in possession of the premises but if there is no other successor of the same category, the right to continue in possession of the premises shall not, on such extinguishment, pass on to any other successor specified in any lower category or categories, as the case may be:
(b) the right of every successor, referred to in sub-section (1) to continue in possession of the premises shall be personal to him and shall not, on the death of such successor, devolve on any of his heirs.
(3) Nothing in sub-section (1) or sub-section (2) shall apply to a non-residential premises and the vacant possession of such premises shall be delivered to the landlord within one year--
(i) of the death of tenant, in case the tenant is an individual;
(ii) of the dissolution of the firm, in case the tenant is a firm;
(iii) of the winding up of the company, in case the tenant is a company;
(iv) of the dissolution of the corporate body other than a company, in case the tenant is such a corporate body.