Pune: The registration department has urged property owners to opt for registered leave and licence agreements instead of relying on notarised rent pacts to avoid police action.It comes with a bonus. “Once a leave and licence agreement is registered online, the tenant information is automatically shared with the police department through the Crime and Criminal Tracking Network and Systems (CCTNS). Property owners do not need to submit it separately,” said Abhaysinh Mohite, deputy inspector general (IT), registration department.The registration department stressed on registering the rent agreements as the Pune city police launched a drive against property owners whose tenant details were unavailable in the system. As many as 175 landlords and paying-guest (PG) operators faced action in the past two weeks.The police said the targets of the drive were properties without record of registered leave and licence agreement or where the required tenant information had not been furnished. The action is being taken under Section 223 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) for alleged violation of orders issued under Section 163 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS).Deputy commissioner of police (Special Branch) Prashant Amrutkar said the police drive would be intensified. “From the data available with us, we can identify registered leave-and-licence agreements.” he said.The police campaign is aimed at strengthening tenant verification in Pune, having a large floating population of students, professionals and businesspersons from across Maharashtra and other states. Many of them stay in rented accommodation. During the verification drive, the police found several landlords and PG operators had accommodated tenants without executing the required rental agreements or furnishing tenant details to the jurisdictional police station.The drive, led by Amrutkar, is being conducted under the guidance of Pune commissioner of police (CP) Amitesh Kumar and joint CP Sanjay Darade. Personnel from Special Branch divisions 1 to 7, assisted by teams from local police stations, are checking tenant information and rental documentation. Action has been reported from Kothrud, Deccan, Ambegaon, Narhe, Chatushrungi, Khadki, Lonikand, Loni Kalbhor and other parts of the city.Officials said the integration of the registration department’s i-SARITA system with CCTNS enabled police stations across Maharashtra to access details of registered e-leave-and-licence agreements. This allows the police to check if a tenancy has been formally registered before taking action against a property owner for non-submission of tenant details.Sachin Shingvi of the Association of Service Providers said, “Earlier, there was some trouble in sharing the tenancy data between the registration department and the police. Now it is being done seamlessly. Property owners must provide tenant information to the police in the interest of public peace, law and order, and security. We are creating awareness among citizens to register agreements online through the citizens’ portal.”
