04-19-2008, 11:22 AM
<!--emo&:argue--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/argue.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='argue.gif' /><!--endemo--> EXPRESS EDITORIAL
Rent a politician
Posted online: Saturday, April 19, 2008 at 0034 hrs Print Email
SC ruling can transform Delhi, and by precedent other cities. But thereâs Congress and BJP
The Indian Express
: In a city of 13 million can two lakh people who donât have right on their side block a reform thatâs been decades overdue? Of course they can. So anxiety is the smart response to the Supreme Courtâs burial of the absurd, 50-year-old rent provisions governing Delhiâs shops. Traders, a hugely powerful lobby in the city with equal influence in both the Congress and BJP, will want to exhume the old rules that allowed, say, a Connaught Place restaurant-owner to pay a monthly rent that wonât buy a dinner for two at his eatery. Elections in Delhi are coming. The Congress is nervous and the BJP is hopeful. Between them these two parties have achieved a beautiful consensus that the reformed Delhi Rent Act should not be notified. So since 1995 Parliamentâs will and the presidentâs assent have been ignored in the nationâs capital. How difficult is it then for Delhiâs politicians to use the system to stall the court-mandated change?
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Commercial Rent Business Real Estate Delhi Lease
But, just to indulge in a fantasy, supposing the change goes through and that too quickly, what will happen? A small miracle. The real estate market in Delhiâs commercial heart will open up. Space will be freed and pricing distortion will be removed. There will be more investment, bigger businesses, more jobs and, yes, the once-grand CP may lose its ragged look. In fact, one of the problems big, organised retail has faced is the lack of commercial space in some of the most attractive city areas. Market rents for shops will get the big boys in and the knock-on effects of big retail are well known.
The familiar argument against all this will be: Where will the âsmall boysâ go? Well, first, asking landlords to receive a pittance for their properties is not social justice. It is anyway absurd to say that all landlords are rich property barons, so the emotive argument doesnât work either. Second, shopkeepers are hardly the only social group being asked to pay market prices. Delhiâs residential tenancy prices are largely market-determined now and as a result the city has a wide range of rented properties on supply for all income groups. Third, there can be little sympathy for businesses run on the principle that a large part of costs (rent) will be politically fixed while income (prices of commodities and services sold) will be market-determined. Those among Delhiâs traders who have built a business model on â50s rent levels will simply have to reinvent their model. Delhi, as a result, will be a better, more liveable city. Does that argument work for the cityâs politicians?
editor@expressindia.com
Rent a politician
Posted online: Saturday, April 19, 2008 at 0034 hrs Print Email
SC ruling can transform Delhi, and by precedent other cities. But thereâs Congress and BJP
The Indian Express
: In a city of 13 million can two lakh people who donât have right on their side block a reform thatâs been decades overdue? Of course they can. So anxiety is the smart response to the Supreme Courtâs burial of the absurd, 50-year-old rent provisions governing Delhiâs shops. Traders, a hugely powerful lobby in the city with equal influence in both the Congress and BJP, will want to exhume the old rules that allowed, say, a Connaught Place restaurant-owner to pay a monthly rent that wonât buy a dinner for two at his eatery. Elections in Delhi are coming. The Congress is nervous and the BJP is hopeful. Between them these two parties have achieved a beautiful consensus that the reformed Delhi Rent Act should not be notified. So since 1995 Parliamentâs will and the presidentâs assent have been ignored in the nationâs capital. How difficult is it then for Delhiâs politicians to use the system to stall the court-mandated change?
Related Stories
Five-day trade union conference from todayCouple âshelterâ Andhra Naxal, heldPMK chief meets SoniaParty gets new office-bearersIn attendance
Ad Links
Commercial Rent Business Real Estate Delhi Lease
But, just to indulge in a fantasy, supposing the change goes through and that too quickly, what will happen? A small miracle. The real estate market in Delhiâs commercial heart will open up. Space will be freed and pricing distortion will be removed. There will be more investment, bigger businesses, more jobs and, yes, the once-grand CP may lose its ragged look. In fact, one of the problems big, organised retail has faced is the lack of commercial space in some of the most attractive city areas. Market rents for shops will get the big boys in and the knock-on effects of big retail are well known.
The familiar argument against all this will be: Where will the âsmall boysâ go? Well, first, asking landlords to receive a pittance for their properties is not social justice. It is anyway absurd to say that all landlords are rich property barons, so the emotive argument doesnât work either. Second, shopkeepers are hardly the only social group being asked to pay market prices. Delhiâs residential tenancy prices are largely market-determined now and as a result the city has a wide range of rented properties on supply for all income groups. Third, there can be little sympathy for businesses run on the principle that a large part of costs (rent) will be politically fixed while income (prices of commodities and services sold) will be market-determined. Those among Delhiâs traders who have built a business model on â50s rent levels will simply have to reinvent their model. Delhi, as a result, will be a better, more liveable city. Does that argument work for the cityâs politicians?
editor@expressindia.com