Chapter IV Chapter IV

Payment and deposit of rent

Receipt to be given for rent paid.—

1. (1) Every tenant shall pay rent within the time fixed by contract or, in the absence of such contract, by the fifteenth day of the month next following the month for which it is payable.
2. (2) Every tenant who makes a payment of rent or advance to his landlord shall be entitled to obtain forthwith from the landlord or his authorised agent a written receipt for the amount paid to him, signed by the landlord or his authorised agent.
3. (3) If the landlord or his authorised agent refuses or neglects to deliver to the tenant a receipt referred to in sub-section (2), or does not accept any rent tendered by a tenant, the tenant shall remit the rent to the landlord by money order after deducting the money order commission and continue to remit any rent which may subsequently become due in respect of the building in the same manner until the landlord signifies by a written notice to the tenant his willingness to accept the rent and deliver a receipt as required by sub-section (2).

Deposit of rent by tenant.—

1. (1) Where there is a bonafide doubt as to the person or persons to whom the rent is payable or where the address of the landlord or his authorised agent is not known to the tenant, [or the landlord refuses to accept the rent from the tenant] he may deposit such rent with the Controller in the prescribed manner.
2. (2) The deposit shall be accompanied by an application by the tenant containing the following particulars, namely:—
   • (a) the building for which the rent is deposited with a description sufficient for identifying the building;
   • (b) the period for which the rent is deposited;
   • (c) the name and address of the landlord or the person or persons claiming to be entitled to such rent;
   • (d) the reasons for and the circumstances in which the application for depositing the rent is made;
   • (e) such other particulars as may be prescribed.
3. (3) On such deposit of the rent being made, the Controller shall send in the prescribed manner a copy or copies of the application to the landlord or persons claiming to be entitled to the rent with an endorsement of the date of the deposit.
4. (4) If an application is made for the withdrawal of any deposit of rent, the Controller shall, if satisfied that the applicant is the person entitled to receive the rent deposited, order amount of the rent to be paid to him in the manner prescribed: Provided that no order for payment of any deposit of rent shall be made by the Controller under this sub-section without giving all persons named by the tenant in his application under sub-section
5. (2) as claiming to be entitled to payment of such rent an opportunity of being heard and such order shall be without prejudice to the right of such persons to receive such rent being decided by a court of competent jurisdiction.
6. (5) If at the time of filing the application under sub-section
7. (4) but not after the expiry of thirty days from receiving the notice of the deposit, the landlord or the person claiming to be entitled to the rent complains to the Controller that the statements in the tenant’s application of the reasons and the circumstances which led him to deposit the rent are untrue, the Controller, after giving the tenant an opportunity of being heard, if he is satisfied that the said statements were materially untrue, impose on the tenant a fine not exceeding an amount equal to two months’ rent, and may further direct that such portion thereof as he considers fit should be paid to the landlord as compensation.
8. (6) The Controller, on the complaint of the tenant and after giving an opportunity to the landlord of being heard may, if he is satisfied that the landlord without any reasonable cause refused to accept rent though tendered to him within the time referred to in section 17, impose on the landlord a fine not exceeding an amount equal to two months’ rent and may further direct that such portion thereof as he considers fit should be paid to the tenant as compensation.

Time limit for making deposit and consequences of incorrect particulars in application for deposit.—

1. (1) No rent deposited under section 18 shall be considered to have been validly deposited under that section, unless the deposit is made within twenty-one days of the time allowed by section 17 for payment of the rent.
2. (2) No such deposit shall be considered to have been validly made, if the tenant wilfully makes any false statement in his application for depositing the rent, unless the landlord has withdrawn the amount deposited before the date of filing an application for the recovery of possession of the building from the tenant.
3. (3) If the rent is deposited within the time mentioned in sub-section
4. (1) and does not cease to be a valid deposit for the reason mentioned in sub-section (2), the deposit shall constitute payment of the rent to the landlord as if the amount deposited had been validly tendered.
5. (4) If the deposit is not considered to have been validly made, the person depositing may withdraw the deposit at any time when he wishes to withdraw by making an application in writing in this behalf to the Controller.

Saving as to acceptance of rent.— The withdrawal of rent deposited under section 18 in the manner provided therein shall not operate as an admission against the person withdrawing it of the correctness of the rate of rent, the period of default, the amount due, or of any other facts stated in the tenant’s application for depositing the rent under the said section.