BMC hikes rent for tenants of civic-owned buildings in Mumbai

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has decided to hike the rents for tenants residing in the civic-owned buildings. 

Earlier, according to a circular issued by the civic body in May 2021, the rent was supposed to be increased every year by 5 per cent per sq. ft. Accordingly, BMC has planned to increase the rent to INR 3 per sq ft. With this, the tenants of such buildings will now have to pay the monthly rent of INR 600-700.

The civic body will now implement the earlier circular. In case a tenant wants to sell the property, he would need the no-objection certificate of the landowner (BMC) and pay a certain share of the transaction to the civic body as well.

However, Ravi Raja, the former opposition leader of the BMC, alleged that sudden hike will be unjust to residents who fall in the low-income group bracket. He has also written a letter to Chief minister Eknath Shinde and has requested to give a stay order to the BMC circular.

The BMC owns 3,505 buildings largely in South Mumbai with over 46,000 tenants residing in them. This includes both commercial and residential properties. The erstwhile Bombay Improvement Trust was dissolved into BMC in 1925, and the buildings came to be owned by the civic body.