The Works and Human Settlement Ministry is coming up with a tenancy grievance system where tenants can lodge complaints if their landlords increase the house rent unlawfully. As a Tenancy Authority, the ministry has issued a notification asking tenants to file their complaints to their respective local government for any violation of the Tenancy Act. The notification comes as the parliament begins discussions on the pay raise for civil servants.
“As per the regulation, if you are not submitting one copy of the Tenancy Agreement to the Local Government, then you are subjected to a fine as per regulation which is also two months’ rent. Two months’ rent is equal to again if your monthly rental income is Nu 120,000, then two months is around Nu 240,000. So that is how we are going to implement that one. And now we are also coming up with the tenancy grievance system. So, we are mentioning it as a tenancy service system. All the Local Governments and all the general public will have access to an online platform to submit their agreement online, not just landlords but tenants will option to submit Tenancy Agreement,” said Sonam Dorji, Urban Economist of the Department of Human Settlement.
On social media, netizens called for relevant authorities to strictly monitor the situation and ensure that they are not forced out of the apartment for complaining.
Today, 60 per cent of the households in Thimphu spend more than 36 per cent of their income on rent. As per the international standard, spending more than 30 per cent of the income on rent means housing rental is not affordable for many.
Samten Dolkar
