Delhi Waqf Board to revise property rent

 New Delhi: Under its new chairman Amanatullah Khan, the Delhi Waqf Board is gearing up to revise the rent of its properties to boost resources and undertake welfare programmes for the Muslim community in the city.

Khan said the Waqf Board was working on rent revision as per the new lease rules that provide for 2.5 per cent of the area circle rate as annual rent for commercial and 2 per cent for residential properties. 

"The shop owners and tenants who will not pay revised rent will be asked to vacate our properties," Khan said. 

Rents of the Waqf Board properties scattered across the city have not been revised for many years. Khan has directed revision of the rate as per the Waqf Properties Lease (Amendment) Rules, 2014, said a senior Delhi Waqf Board official. 

"If the revised rent is realised the income of the Waqf Board will jump up to crores of rupees," the official said. 

Currently, the Delhi Waqf Board's revenue is around Rs 11 lakh per month. 

The Waqf Board owns over 2,000 properties, including shops in commercial areas, residential buildings, lands and graveyards across the city. 

The official said most of the Waqf Board properties concentrated in the Old City areas currently have meagre rent of around Rs 500-2,000 for shops and residential places. 

The revised rents as per new rules will earn monthly Rs 600 per square metre for commercial and Rs 180 for residential properties, he said. 

As per the Sachar Committee report, 2006, Delhi Waqf Board's properties were valued at over Rs 1,000 crore, the official said. 

The monthly income of Delhi Waqf Board, which was around Rs 7-8 lakh, had gone up to about Rs 1.25 crore per month during Khan's previous tenure in 2016.