Karnataka Rent Act: Rs 50,000 fine for tenants subletting without landlord’s consent
Bengaluru: Tenants in Karnataka who sublet rented premises without the landlord’s consent will soon face a hefty penalty of Rs 50,000, a 900% hike from the current fine, as per amendments proposed under the Karnataka Rent Act.
The Karnataka Rent (Amendment) Bill, which includes these stricter provisions, has been cleared by the scrutiny committee headed by Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister H.K. Patil. It is expected to be tabled in the upcoming session of the state legislature, as reported by Deccan Herald on Thursday.
Currently, the penalty for unauthorised subletting is Rs 5,000 or double the amount received from subletting—whichever is higher—or imprisonment for up to one month. The proposed amendment will replace this with a fine of Rs 50,000.
In a move to deter landlords from exploiting tenants, the bill also proposes increasing the penalty for landlords who demand or receive payment for granting consent to sublet. Such landlords will now face a fine of Rs 30,000, up from the existing Rs 3,000. Imprisonment of up to one month is being dropped, according to the amendment proposed.
The amendment also targets unregistered brokers and middlemen involved in property rentals. Under Section 20 of the Act, they are required to register with the ‘controller’—typically an assistant commissioner in large cities, a senior tahsildar in smaller towns, or a tahsildar in rural areas, added the report.
Failure to register will now attract a daily penalty of Rs 25,000, a massive increase from the current Rs 2,000. Moreover, a daily fine of Rs 20,000 will be levied for each day of continued violation, compared to the existing Rs 2,000.
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Congress using hijab issue to pacify minority anger, alleges Karnataka LoP R Ashoka
Bengaluru: Leader of Opposition in the Assembly R. Ashoka has accused the Congress government of using the hijab issue to placate what he described as discontent among minority voters after the Davanagere by-election.
In a post on X on Wednesday, Ashoka alleged that the state government, instead of addressing issues such as price rise, corruption, farmers’ distress and law and order, was attempting to retain its minority vote base by reviving the hijab issue.
Referring to the 2022 dress code introduced by the BJP government, which prohibited hijab in schools and colleges, Ashoka said the Karnataka High Court had upheld the policy and emphasised the importance of discipline in educational institutions.
He questioned the Congress government’s move to revisit the issue and asked whether setting aside the court-backed policy to benefit one community could be described as secularism.
Ashoka further alleged that while the government was willing to permit hijab, it continued to prohibit saffron shawls.
He accused the government of dividing students on religious lines rather than treating schools and colleges as spaces of equality.
Drawing a comparison with Mamata Banerjee’s government in West Bengal, Ashoka claimed that excessive appeasement politics had harmed the state and warned that the Congress in Karnataka could face a similar political response.
He said voters in Karnataka would teach the Congress a lesson for what he termed “vote-bank politics” and for compromising constitutional and judicial principles.
