Rent defaulters in Chandigarh to face music

Chandigarh, April 29

After the allottees failed to pay rent on time, the Chandigarh Housing Board (CHB) has started the process to cancel the allotment of small flats.

An official said nearly 15,000 small flat owners have not paid their outstanding dues amounting to Rs 50 crore for the past one decade.

The CHB has uploaded the list of the defaulters on its website, directing them to clear the dues within 15 days, failing which cancellation notices will be issued.

An official said the Board had issued show-cause notices to the defaulters and even cancelled the allotment in some cases. He said enough time was given to the defaulters to clear their dues, but to no avail. After the cancellation of the allotment, the allottee would have to vacate the house, he said, adding that the allottee would have to pay the pending dues with interest and revival charges if the appellate authority allowed the restoration of allotment.

He said the pending amount could be paid by visiting e-Sampark centres or online through CHB website:?www.chbonline.in.

The CHB has so far allotted more than 18,000 flats under the Rehabilitation Scheme, Small Flat Scheme or Affordable Rental Housing Scheme (ARHC). These flats have been allotted for sole occupation of the allottees and their families, and cannot be sold or transferred.

Based on the door-to-door survey carried out last year of 18,138 small flats, the CHB has recently cancelled the allotment of 22 flats for violating the terms and conditions of allotment.

The flats are located in Sectors 49, 56, 38 (West), Dhanas, Industrial Area, Mauli Jagran, Ram Darbar, Maloya (Small Flats) and Maloya (ARHC). Of the total defaulters, at 7,008, the maximum are from Dhanas, followed by 2,018 from Maloya and 1,388 from Mauli Jagran.

In March last year, show-cause notices for cancellation were issued to 11,641 allottees. The same month, nearly Rs 8 crore was deposited by defaulters.