Rift between traders, owners widening

ISLAMABAD: Traders in Islamabad are not happy with their landowners. Traders’ representatives on Wednesday said that the Rent Control Act (RCA) 2001, which is currently in effect, is heavily skewed towards the owners and ignores the fundamental rights of the tenants.

A major flaw in RCA 2001 is that it does not clearly specify rules and regulations in case of disputes. This has caused different parties to draw their own interpretation of the laws.

For instance, Umer Badr, who owns many shops in Jinnah Super, said, “If the shopkeepers refuse to agree to my terms then I have a right to expel them from my shops.”

Traders, however, term this as “forceful expulsion without a basis in law.”

To address this very rift between traders and owners, the government has devised a new replacement draft after months of deliberation.

The new draft precludes owners from forceful expulsion of their tenants. Disputes arising between the two parties will be referred to magistrates and session judges who would decide the cases as per law.

Similarly the new draft prevents owners from announcing new tenancy terms and conditions on their own. Such changes would instead be overlooked by a commission consisting of traders’ and owners’ representatives.

Traders, however, fear that this draft will not be tabled in the parliament.

Vice President National Traders Alliance (NTA) Malik Sohail, while expressing this fear, said the landlords were exploiting their tenants due to the absence of an adequate tenancy law in Islamabad.

He added, “There even have been instances where property owners first refused to receive the rent for three months and then moved the court against the tenant for defaulting.”

Syed Nayyar Hussain Bukhari, leader of house in senate, told The Express Tribune that the government was looking into the issue and that the Ministry of Commerce will prepare the modalities to table the new rent control draft in the parliament. He added, “It will still take some time to remove the hindrances.”

Published in The Express Tribune, September 10^th, 2010.