The matters relating to Rent and Tenancy are regulated by the various legislations of the Union Government and respective State Governments of India. Such laws deal with the rental of commercial and residential property by making provisions for enforcement of the individual rights of both landlord and tenant and prevention of any kind of deceit. There are many irregularities in the land markets in India, such as inflexible zoning, rent and tenancy laws. Some of the laws on zoning, rent controls and protected tenancies have proved to be damaging to the sound tenancy and rental operations in India. Because of cheap tenancies, tenants were unwilling to surrender their tenancies at their own will and landlords failed to evict their tenants for a long time. The government of India, by the introduction of the Rent Control Act, has attempted to get rid of the exploitation of tenants by landlords. The Rent Control legislations made provisions of fair rent to landlords and protection of tenants against eviction but due to the generous allowances, those tenants who have been residing in rental properties in India since 1947 still continue to pay rents at the same rate, regardless of inflation and the realty boom. A model rent control legislation was proposed by the Central Government in 1992 which proposed modification of some of the existing provisions on inheritance of tenancy and prescribed a rent level beyond which rent control could not apply. This model legislation was proposed for the purpose of all the States in India but very few states have introduced any law based on it. Some of the State Rent Control Acts contain the provisions for the dispute among the landlords and tenants, namely, Maharashtra Rent Control Act, Delhi Rent Control Act, Tamil Nadu Rent Control Act and Karnataka Rent Control Act. These State Rent legislations provide for fixation of standard rent.
