Section 4: Determination of standard rent

The Himachal Pradesh Urban Rent Control Act, 1987

The High Court of Himachal Pradesh is reported to have struck down section 4, and sections 5 to 8 and 30(2) in so far as they depend on it (Chaman Lal Bali v. State of Himachal Pradesh, 2 August 2016). See the note on the Act page.

How current this text is

Text as published by the Law Department, Government of Himachal Pradesh, with amendments up to H.P. Act No. 8 of 2012.

The High Court of Himachal Pradesh in Chaman Lal Bali v. State of Himachal Pradesh (CWP No. 2072 of 1995, decided on 2 August 2016, reported as AIR 2016 HP 168) is reported to have declared section 4 unconstitutional, together with sections 5, 6, 7, 8 and 30(2) in so far as they depend on standard rent fixed under section 4. The official text still prints these provisions. We could not open the judgment on an official court site and found no order of the Supreme Court staying or reversing it.

H.P. Ordinance No. 4 of 2022, promulgated on 12 October 2022, amended section 14. No Act replacing it has been found, and an Ordinance that is not replaced by an Act ceases to operate, so this text does not show it.

¹[(1) The Controller shall, on application by the tenant or the landlord of a building or rented land, and after holding such enquiry as he may think fit, fix the standard rent for such a building or rented land on the basis of 10% of the aggregate cost of construction and the market price of the land comprised in the premises on the date of commencement of the construction. The standard rent so derived shall be increased by 10% from the year of construction to the present year to arrive at standard rent for the given year. However, in case of non-residential building, the standard rent shall be fixed on the basis of 15% of the aggregate cost of construction and the market price of the land comprised in the premises on the date of the construction.

Explanation.— For the purpose of fixation of standard rent, the maintenance charges, municipal taxes including water and electricity charges shall be taken into account:

Provided that—

(i) the maintenance charges shall not exceed 5% of the standard rent;

(ii) the taxes shall be as per actual tax payable on prorata basis; and

(iii) the other amenities like water and electricity shall be as agreed between the landlord and the tenant.

(2) The standard rent fixed under sub-section (1) shall become payable from the date on which the application is filed under this section.]

Footnotes in the official text

1.Section 4 substituted vide H.P. Act No. 8 of 2012.

Questions on this section

2 questions in 2 of our papers cite Section 4. Try these from the free papers:

1. Consider the following statements about Section 4 of the Himachal Pradesh Urban Rent Control Act, 1987, as substituted by H.P. Act No. 8 of 2012: 1. Maintenance charges taken into account in fixing standard rent shall not exceed 5% of the standard rent. 2. Taxes are taken into account as per the actual tax payable on a pro rata basis. 3. The standard rent fixed by the Controller becomes payable from the date of the Controller's order. Which of the statements given above is/are correct?