Aadhaar

Avinash Naik

Khazi Khameruddin

Bengaluru

Shivam Gupta

Ravi Arora

Naren K

Away from the security debate around UID, a new problem has arisen for those unwilling to get their iris and fingerprints scanned — landlords are increasingly turning away potential tenants withoutSamudra Dasgupta, a BCom student, came to the city a few years ago and found a home on rent without much hassle. Recently though, when he was house-hunting, a landlord told him he could get the house only if he has an Aadhaar card.A year after the Central Government made Aadhaar mandatory for property registrations, house-owners and real-estate agents in the city are asking tenants to produce their Aadhaar cards to process rental agreements.Dasgupta’s house-hunting story had a happy ending as he did have an Aadhaar card. “One of my friends could not shift with us as he did not have it,” he told BM.The unwritten Aadhaar rule has taken several tenants by surprise., a techie, said, “Landlords have always insisted on an ID proof before renting out houses.These days Aadhaar card is a must for everything from LPG to electricity bill, but that is because they need our address proof. Why insist on an Aadhaar card or number for the rent agreement though?”Till recently, students or professionals, could get houses on rent with a student ID or a company ID.A house-owner in Benga­luru South told Bangalore Mirror why he prefers to ask for the Aadhaar card. “I feel Aadhaar is a better option over college or company ID cards. With it, we can get all the details of the person we rent our houses to.”Realtors take the Aadhaar card as a token of security. “According to the government’s new rules, if the owner of a plot/complex/flat claims a housing allowance of Rs 8,000 rupees or more from their company, it is a must for them to submit their Aadhaar or PAN card, along with the usual documents, at the time of registration,” says, a real-estate agent fromEast.Another real-estate agent said, “The Aadhaar card is necessary because house-owners might need all the details in times of emergency such as a health issue or if the tenant is involved in some criminal activity in the house.”Recently, the Mysuru city police made it mandatory for house-owners to collect the Aadhaar details and submit them to their jurisdictional police station. The owners were given a 30-day deadline for submitting the details of the tenant from the start date of the rental agreement. They were also instructed that failing to do this would attract penal action under Section 188 of the IPC that deals with disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant.* I was asked for my Aadhaar card before renting the flat. I honestly feel ­that it should be a must for every apartment to be rented for better mutual safety and security. My four roommates and I had to give our Aadhaar card details. —* Before renting the apartment, the landlord asked me for Aadhaar card and I gave him the details. I did not enquire further and so he did not give me an explanation.* I was looking for apartments on a very short notice a few months ago and I was really disappointed because I couldn’t rent a lot of apartments that I found convenient as I didn’t have an Aadhaar card at that point of time.