Industry bodies slug it out over office premises

A feud over office premises between the PHDCCI and the Electronics and Computer Software Export Promotion Council (ESC) is awaiting resolution by a Delhi court.

The ESC had filed a court case against the PHDCCI alleging harassment for not agreeing to pay an increased occupational charge for working out of the latter's imposing building in the Siri Institutional area in South Delhi.

The PHDCCI had, in turn, served an eviction notice to ESC, asking it to vacate the premises by the end of Agust.

According to an ESC functionary, the dispute with the PHDCCI began earlier this year when the chamber increased the rental or occupational charges to Rs 120 per sq ft per month from Rs 65.80 per sq ft at present with retrospective effect from 1999.

When it refused to pay the increased charges, the PHDCCI disconnected essential services like water, electricity and the lift, alleged ESC. This harassment, they added, was hampering the council's functioning.

The PHDCCI said: "We have recently increased membership fees for secretarial affiliates seeking our services. The managing committee at the PHDCCI has decided not to renew this agreement with the ESC and issued a legal notice terminating the arrangement and has advised them to vacate the premises."

The chamber further pointed out that ESC had defaulted in paying the due secretarial affiliate fee and had gone to court saying their electricity and water supply had been disconnected.

"PHDCCI has denied this baseless charge as power and water is supplied to the entire building from a single source and gets disrupted throughout the building only during load shedding or when water supply is cut in the area. The matter is sub-judice and the PHDCCI, therefore, would not get into details," it said in a written response to a query from Business Standard.

PHDCCI also said associations which operate from within its premises pay an additional secretarial affiliate fee.

"We have no tenants and no rental agreements and ESC is a secretarial affiliate," it added.

"PHDCCI gave an assurance to the lower court that it would not disrupt these supplies. However, despite the assurance, it backtracked, which forced the council to file a contempt of court application. PHDCCI has filed its reply to the court which would be heard at the next date of hearing on September 16," ESC added.