4. Rent in excess of standard rent not recoverable.—(1) Except where rent is liable to periodical
increase by virtue of an agreement entered into before the 1st day of January, 1939 or where rent is
payable under a lease entered into before the 1st day of January, 1939, which has not expired before the
first day of the period for which the rent is claimed, no tenant shall, notwithstanding any agreement to the
contrary, be liable to pay to his landlord for the occupation of any premises any amount in excess of the
standard rent of the premises unless such amount is a lawful increase of the standard rent in accordance
with the provisions of this Act.
(2) Subject to the provisions of sub-section (1), any agreement for the payment of rent in excess of
the standard rent shall be null and void and shall be construed as if it were an agreement for the payment
of the standard rent only.
5. Unlawful charges not to be claimed or received.—(1) Subject to the provisions of this Act, no
person shall claim or receive any rent in excess of the standard rent, notwithstanding any agreement to the
contrary.
(2) No person shall, in consideration of the grant, continuance or renewal of a tenancy or sub-tenancy
of any premises, claim or receive the payment of any premium, pugree, fine, advance or any other like
sum in addition to the rent.
Explanation.—Receipt of rent in advance for a period not exceeding one month shall not be deemed
to be an advance within the meaning of this section.
(3) It shall not be lawful for the tenant or any other person acting or purporting to act on behalf of the
tenant or a sub-tenant to claim or receive any payment in consideration of the relinquishment of his
tenancy or sub-tenancy, as the case may be, of any premises.
(4) Nothing in this section shall apply—
(a) to any payment made in pursuance of an agreement entered into before the 1st day of
November, 1939; or
(b) to any payment made under an agreement by any person to a landlord for the purpose of
financing the construction of the whole or part of any premises on the land belonging to the landlord,
if one of the conditions of the agreement is that the landlord is to let to such person the whole or part
of the premises when completed for the use of such person or any member of his family:
Provided that such payment does not exceed the amount of agreed rent for a period of five years of
the whole or part of the premises to be let to such person.
Explanation.—For the purposes of clause (b) of this sub-section, a “member of the family” means, in
the case of an undivided Hindu family, any member of such family and in the case of any other family,
the husband, wife, son, daughter, father, mother, brother, sister or any other person dependent on him.
6. Lawful increases of standard rent.—(1) Where a landlord has at any time, whether before or
after the commencement of this Act, incurred expenditure for any improvement, addition or structural
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alteration in the premises , not being expenditure on decoration or tenantable repairs necessary or usual
for such premises, and the cost of that improvement, addition or alteration has not been taken into account
in determining the standard rent of the premises, the landlord may lawfully increase the standard rent per
year by an amount not exceeding seven and a half per cent. of such cost.
(2) Where a landlord pays in respect of the premises any charge for electricity or water consumed in
the premises or any other charge levied by a local authority having jurisdiction in the area which is
ordinarily payable by the tenant, he may recover from the tenant any amount so paid by him; but no
landlord shall recover from the tenant whether by means of an increase in rent or otherwise the amount of
any tax on building or land imposed in respect of the premises occupied by the tenant:
Provided that nothing in this sub-section shall affect the liability of any tenant under an agreement
entered into before the 1st day of January, 1952, whether express or implied, to pay from time to time the
amount of any such tax as aforesaid.
(3) Where a part of the premises let for use to a tenant has been sub-let by him—
(a) the landlord may lawfully increase the rent payable by the tenant—
(i) in the case of any premises let for residential purposes, by an amount not exceeding
twelve and one-half per cent. of the standard rent of the part sub-let;
(ii) in the case of any premises let for other purposes, by an amount not exceeding twentyfive per cent. of the standard rent of the part sub-let;
(b) the tenant may lawfully increase the rent payable by the sub-tenant—
(i) in the case of any premises let for residential purposes, by an amount not exceeding
twenty-five per cent. of the standard rent of the part sub-let; and
(ii) in the case of any premises let for other purposes, by an amount not exceeding fifty
per cent. of the standard rent of the part sub-let;
(c) the tenant shall, on being so requested in writing by the landlord, supply, within fourteen days
of such request being made, a statement in writing giving full particulars of any sub-letting including
the rent charged.
7. Notice of increase of, or addition to, rent.—(1) Where a landlord wishes to increase the rent of
any premises, he shall give the tenant notice of his intention to make the increase and in so far as such
increase is lawful under this Act, it shall be due and recoverable only in respect of the period of the
tenancy after the end of the month in which the notice is given.
(2) Every notice under sub-section (1) shall be in writing signed by or on behalf of the landlord and
given in the manner provided in section 106 of the Transfer of Property Act, 1882 (4 of 1882).
(3) For the avoidance of doubt, it is hereby declared that the provisions of this section apply equally
to any increase in rent payable by the sub-tenant.
8. Cases in which standard rent may be fixed by court.—(1) In any of the following cases,
namely:—
(a) where, for any reason whatsoever, any dispute arises between a landlord and the tenant
regarding the amount of standard rent payable in respect of any premises in accordance with the
provisions of the Second Schedule; or
(b) where, at any time on or after the 2nd day of June, 1944, any premises are first let and the rent
at which they are let is, in the opinion of the court, unreasonable;
the court may, on an application made to it for the purpose or in any suit or proceeding, fix the standard
rent at such an amount as, having regard to the provisions of this Act and the circumstances of the case,
the court deems just.
(2) Where there is any dispute between the landlord and the tenant regarding the amount which is a
lawful increase of the standard rent, the court may determine such amount.
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(3) Where for any reason it is not possible to determine the standard rent of any premises on the
principles set forth in the Second Schedule, the court may, on an application made to it for the purpose,
determine the standard rent, and in so doing, shall have regard to the standard rent of similar premises in
the same locality and other circumstances of the case.
(4) Infixing the standard rent of any premises under clause (b) of sub-section (1), the court shall fix an
amount which appears to it to be reasonable and no standard rent so fixed shall exceed seven and
one-half per cent. of the reasonable cost of construction of such premises.
Explanation.—For the purposes of this sub-section, the “cost of construction”, in respect of any
premises, includes the market value of the land comprised in the premises at the time of the completion of
such construction.
(5) The standard rent shall in all cases be fixed as for a tenancy of twelve months:
Provided that where any premises are let or re-let for a period of less than twelve months, the
standard rent for such tenancy shall bear the same proportion to the annual standard rent as the period of
tenancy bears to twelve months.
(6) Where the court determines the standard rent of any premises under this section, the court shall
determine the standard rent of the premises in an unfurnished state, and may also determine an additional
charge to be payable on account of any fittings or furniture supplied by the landlord and it shall be lawful
for the landlord to recover such additional charge from the tenant.
(7) In every case in which the court determines the standard rent of any premises under this section, it
shall specify a date from which the standard rent so determined shall be deemed to have effect:
Provided that in no case, the date so specified shall be earlier than six months prior to the date of
filing of the application for the determination of the standard rent or, as the case may be, of the institution
of the suit or proceeding in which the standard rent is determined.
9. Fixation of interim rent by the court.—If an application for fixing the standard rent or for
determining the lawful increase of such rent is made under section 8, the court shall, as expeditiously as
possible, make an order specifying the amount of the rent or the lawful increase to be paid by the tenant to
the landlord pending the final decision of the application and shall appoint a date from which the rent or
lawful increase so specified shall be deemed to have effect.
10. Limitation of liability of middleman.—No collector of rents or middleman shall be liable to pay
to his principal, in respect of any premises, any sum by way of rental charges which exceeds the amount
which he is entitled under this Act to realise from the tenant or tenants of the premises.
11. Limitation for applications for fixation of standard rent.—Any landlord or tenant may file an
application to the court for fixing the standard rent of the premises or for determining the lawful increase
of such rent—
(a) in the case of any premises which were let, or in which the cause of action for lawful increase
of rent arose, before the commencement of this Act, within six months from such commencement;
(b) in the case of any premises let after the commencement of this Act, within six months from
the date on which it is so let; and
(c) in the case of any premises in which the cause of action for lawful increase of rent arises after
the commencement of this Act, within six months from that date:
Provided that the court may entertain the application after the expiry of the said period of six
months if it is satisfied that the applicant was prevented by sufficient cause from filing the application
in time.
12. Refund of rent, premium, etc., not recoverable under this Act.—Where any amount has been
paid by any person whether before or after the commencement of this Act,—
(a) on account of rent, being an amount which is by reason of the provisions of this Act, not
recoverable, or
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(b) as premium, pugree, fine, advance or other like sum in addition to the rent, the receiving of
which is prohibited under this Act,
the court may, on an application made to it in this behalf at any time within a period of six months from
the date of such payment, direct the landlord by whom or on whose behalf the amount was received to
refund the amount to such person or, if such person is a tenant, direct that the amount so paid shall be
deducted from the rent payable by the tenant to the landlord.