The Telangana government has issued orders directing the house owners to defer rent for three months with effect from March 2020, without interest, amid lockdown. The officials also warned of stern action if they found flouting the order. “Whoever violates these orders shall be liable for punishment as contemplated under Section 3 of the Epidemic Diseases Act 1897 and Sections 51 to 58 of the Disaster Management Act, 2005,” says the Government Order (GO) issued by Chief Secretary Somesh Kumar.
“These people will be adversely affected, if payment of timely rents is insisted upon by the property owners at this point. Further, any coercion by property owners including the eviction of tenants on account of non-payment of rents at this point would not only result in displacement of the tenants & extreme hardships for them especially since there is a ban on inter-state movement of people but also and more significantly, it puts them at great risk towards getting infected with virus by exposing them to unwarranted unknown open spaces,” the GO added.
