Regulating house rent

The government has come up with a good decision in the new budget that involves depositing house rents with banks, if the amount exceeds Tk 25,000.
The logic is that this will widen tax net, because huge numbers of house owners "evade tax by hiding the actual figure of their income from house rents." Many feel the government should do one thing more for the benefits of millions of tenants in the country. It can fix house rents according to the area or location concerned.
There is a rule in existence related to house rents which is neither 'realistic' nor implemented. The House Rent Control Act, 1991, should be amended to get rid of the legal loopholes and implemented strictly, so that no urban landlord dares to ignore the said law.
There are many house owners in the capital and other cities, who keep on increasing house rent at their sweet will every year ignoring relevant government rules. The government can upload a form on the Dhaka City Corporation (DCC) website which has to be filled in by both the tenants and the owners to be submitted to DCC online. This can also save the owners from bad tenants, and, at the same time, the real figure and picture of the tenancy will come under government focus.
While writing this article, this author 'googled' for some related information and came across the house rent chart fixed by Dhaka City Corporation (DCC), both South and North. In the chart, I reached my area on Iqbal Road-Sir Syed Road, Mohammadpur (http://www.dhakasouthcity.gov.bd/pdf/zone6.pdf). In the chart it has been said that a brick-built house, if situated just beside the main road, will charge Taka 6.00 to Tk 7.00 per square feet. Well, according to this chart fixed by DCC, the rent of my 1350 square feet house on Sir Syed Road should not be more than Tk 9450  per month at the rate of Tk 7.0 per square foot. But I am paying Tk 19,000, plus Tk 5000 as service charge, which is more than double the DCC's fixed house rent break-up. Some houses in this area are charging even more than this.
Well, I believe what the DCC has fixed years ago is not practical, but what the house owners are fixing at will is also impractical and exorbitantly high. There has to be a balance between these two figures of rent. This has to be done by the government.
As a tenant, I would like to express my views here: there can be two rentals for Dhaka; one for the posh area of the city, and the other for the area, mainly inhabited by middle and lower-middle and lower-income classes. For example, in Gulshan, Banani, Dhanmondi, Baridhara etc. the rent can be Tk 15 per square foot (sft). Suppose, if the house is 2000 sft, the rent will be Tk 30,000. For the rest of the city, including that having middle, lower-middle and lower-income classes of people, the rent will be Tk 10 per square foot. If the house is 2000 sft, the rent will be Tk 20,000. This will, I believe, take the DCC rents to a practical level, and effectively prevent house owners from increasing rents at will.
While increasing rents, house owners refer to the soaring prices of essential commodities, but this applies to the tenants also. Besides, there is the recent trend among the house owners to compare with other houses: "That house charges this amount, why not us?" All these have been possible because of lax monitoring and implementation of the government rules. The government has to bear in mind that vast numbers of the city-dwellers in the country live in rented houses. It should consider the well-being of the majority first, because they are the prime driving force for our economy. Given this reality, the government should regulate house rent.
At the same time, everybody wants a healthy relationship between the house owners and their tenants.
The writer is a communication trainer based in Dhaka. ziahasan69@gmail.com