Novel protest by hoteliers against Rent Act changes

To protest the state government’s decision to amend the Maharashtra Rent Control Act, 1999, hoteliers in South Mumbai have started adding a unique, printed message at the end of the bills given to patrons, which say, Amendment to rent act, Achhe Din for landlords, builders

When The Asian Age visited three hotel owners namely Aditi near KEM Hospital, Megh Darshan in Dadar and Laxmi Villa at Masjid Bunder hotel, the owners who are also members of the Association of Hotels and Restaurant (AHAR), said the intention is to register their protest at the

government’s decision to exclude the protection to residential and commercial tenants above 847 sq ft and 547 sq ft by amending the Rent Control Act.

“We will be compelled to pay rent in lakhs considering the location of my hotel. Also, the government is amending the Act and allowing landlords to charge according to the market rate just so that when we fail to pay increased rents, they can evict us. It is all for the landlord and builder lobby,” said Srinivas Shetty, owner of Aditi restaurant near KEM Hospital.

In a meeting of the AHAR on Monday, a resolution was passed to protest against the state government’s decision to amend the Maharashtra Rent Control Act, 1999.

“This law cannot be termed ‘Rent Control Act’ as it is not going to be amended keeping in mind the interest of landlords and builders. It is a one-sided amendment and I term it a draconian law,” said Bhasker Shetty, restaurant owner of Megh Darshan at Dadar.

The AHAR said that almost 4,000 hoteliers will be affected in South Mumbai once the rents are increased.

“Hotel owners who are paying rent of around Rs 1,000 to Rs 2,000 will have to later pay rent of Rs 2 to 4 lakh per month if the market rate is charged,” said AHAR president Adarsh Shetty.

The novel method or protest adopted by some hotels, however, is not new to Aditi restaurant. The restaurant had earlier followed the same style of protesting against the UPA government, when it had increased the service tax for eating in air-conditioned hotels and had termed it a luxury.

The hotel, at the time, included a message in its bills that read,

“As per UPA government, eating money (2G, Coal, CWG scam) is a necessity and eating food in an AC restaurant is a luxury.”

“When we met the chief minister last year he had promised us that such amendments would not be done. But we now feel like the government has backstabbed thousands of tenants under the pagdi system,” added Mr Srinivas.