Amid the raging second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in India, migrant workers may once again find themselves being forced out of urban centres in India. With job loss and pay cuts, because of the economic crisis from the resurgence of more fatal variants of the Coronavirus, the focus is again on tenants, who may not be able to pay their monthly rentals.https:\/\/fea0ec37ee2f1a2f607399a9ac9ddd39.safeframe.googlesyndication.com\/safeframe\/1-0-38\/html\/container.html<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Even though the government agencies and global think-tanks continue to maintain that the economic impact of the COVID-19 second wave, would not be as adverse as seen during the first wave when millions of workers lost their incomes following a strict nationwide lockdown, numbers present a bleak picture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
According to the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE), the second wave of COVID-19 and the fragmented lockdowns have impacted over 75 lakh jobs, taking the unemployment rate to a four-month high of 8%, in April 2021.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Since the actual numbers might be much higher, considering the data does not include jobs in the unorganised sector, it may be safe to assume that a large number of people, who returned to cities after the first wave was over and businesses started to resume normalcy, are running the risk of non-payment of their monthly rents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Unlike the first wave, when various states issued directives to landlords to not force their tenants to pay rents amid the economic crisis, no such advisory has been issued by any state so far, including those which are home to some of the biggest job markets in the country \u2013 Maharashtra, Delhi and Karnataka.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Rent payments may be a bigger burden for tenants who are also paying monthly EMIs against housing loans for their under-construction properties. Unlike last time when it offered a six-month relief to home loan borrowers, the RBI has not announced any home loan moratorium scheme. In the view of the banking regulator, businesses in India are better prepared to deal with the economic impact of the second wave of the pandemic and the RBI would continue to assess how the situation evolves, before announcing another moratorium scheme.<\/p>\n\n\n\n