Who’s a PG, who’s not?

Resident welfare associations want clarity from UT

 

Chandigarh, August 7
An ongoing attempt by the UT estate office to get landlords to register their paying guests (PGs) has led to both a debate and disappointment among a section of the Resident Welfare Associations (RWAs), many of whom are claiming that notices are being served without verifying whether students residing on the premises are tenants or paying guests.
In the perceived absence of any fixed guideline differentiating between paying guests and tenants, members of various RWAs have planned to write to the UT administration to clearly define PG and conventional tenancy.

The issue of landlords illegally renting out premises to paying guests is fast becoming a topic of discussion among RWAs and has become a major agenda for many city landlords at the monthly meetings of the Federation of Sector Welfare Association Chandigarh (FOSWAC).

The issue has led to members taking positions, often at variance. While FOSWAC is trying hard to get illegal PGs shut, a few members of RWAs are upset that the estate office is issuing notices to landlords without verifying whether they have rented their premises to conventional tenants or paying guests.
Raising the issue during the FOSWAC meeting today, its chairman PC Sanghi demanded the enforcement of the guidelines notified by the administration for regulating paying guests accommodations in residential buildings.
Sanghi said they would take up the matter of creating hostel accommodations for students, to stop the mushrooming of illegal paying guests, with the administration.
However, agitated over UT’s move, Surinder Sharma, president, Welfare Society, Sector 15, said the estate office was serving notices on landlords just on the basis of students residing in houses without verifying whether they were paying guests or tenants.
“We will write to the UT administration to distinguish between PGs and rented accommodation before taking any further action,” he said. The UT administration has been tightening its noose on landlords illegally renting out premises to paying guests. However, landlords are opposing the move in the absence of any defined differentiation between paying guests and rented accommodation.
Another RWA member, during the meeting, claimed that the fear of families not vacating the house encouraged landlords to rent the accommodation to students, which was not wrong.
“Renting out an accommodation to students does not mean that they are paying guests. The policy adopted by the administration to serve notice and fine landlords is unfair,” he said.
Much of the city’s student community living as PGs is concentrated in Sectors 8, 10, 11, 15, 16, 19, 20, 21, 22, 27, 32, 33, 34 and 35.