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Section 8: Landlord not to claim or receive anything in excess of fair rent or agreed rent

The Kerala Buildings (Lease and Rent Control) Act, 1965

How current this text is

Text as published by India Code for the Government of Kerala (Law Department), with amendments up to Act 16 of 1974.

No later amending Act or Ordinance appears in the Kerala Law Department's index of State Acts and Ordinances (checked to 2026).

The Act was made as President's Act No. 2 of 1965 (enacted on 4 July 1965, Kerala Gazette Extraordinary No. 60 of 7 July 1965) and re-enacted by the Kerala Re-enacting Act, 1968 (Act 8 of 1968), which substituted the preamble and enacting formula shown above in square brackets.

The provision on reopening of orders for eviction in certain cases, inserted by Act 7 of 1966 and printed after the Schedule in this copy, is not reproduced as a section on this page.

(1) Where the Rent Control Court has determined the fair rent of a building—

(a) the landlord shall not claim, receive or stipulate for the payment of (i) any premium or other like sum in addition to such fair rent, or (ii) save as provided in section 6 or section 7, anything in excess of such fair rent :

Provided that the landlord may receive, or stipulate for the payment of an amount not exceeding one month's rent, by way of advance;

(b) save as provided in clause (a), any premium or other like sum or any rent paid in addition to, or in excess of such fair rent, whether before or after the commencement of this Act, in consideration of the grant, continuance or renewal of the tenancy of the building after such commencement, shall be refunded by the landlord to the person by whom it was paid or at the option of such person, shall be otherwise adjusted by the landlord :

Provided that where before the determination of the fair rent, rent has been paid in excess thereof, the refund or adjustment shall be limited to the amount paid in excess for a period of three years immediately before the institution of any proceedings for such determination.

(2) Where the fair rent of a building has not been determined under section 5—

(a) notwithstanding anything contained in any contract, the rent payable for the building in case it is a building falling under clause (i) or clause (ii) of the proviso to sub-section (2) of section 5 shall be, where the property tax or house tax has been fixed by the local authority, the maximum rent that may be fixed by the Rent Control Court as provided for in sub-section (2) of section 5, or the agreed rent whichever is less, and in cases where no property tax or house tax has been fixed for the building or where it has been fixed not on a rental basis, the agreed rent ;

(b) the landlord shall not, claim, receive or stipulate for the payment of, any premium or other like sum in addition to the rent payable under clause (a) for a building falling under clause (i) or clause (ii) of the proviso to sub-section (2) of section 5, and the agreed rent in the case of any other building :

Provided that the landlord may receive, or stipulate for the payment of, an amount not exceeding one month's rent, by way of advance ;

(c) save as provided in clause (b) any sum paid in excess of the rent payable under clause (a) in the case of a building falling under clause (i) or clause (ii) of the proviso to sub-section (2) of section 5, and the agreed rent in the case of any other building, in consideration of the grant, continuance or renewal of the tenancy of the building after the commencement of this Act, shall be refunded by the landlord to the person by whom it was paid or, at the option of such person, shall be otherwise adjusted by the landlord.

(3) Any stipulation in contravention of sub-section (1) or sub-section (2) shall be null and void.

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