Full rental charges by malls may impact traders drastically: CAIT

New Delhi, Feb 17 (KNN) Amid a rise in footfalls and a recovery in businesses, malls in various cities have started switching to original full rentals, ending the brief rental concessions they had given to their tenants during the peak of the third Covid wave in January.

According to a media report, Pacific Mall in Delhi in January had charged rents from brands only for those days when the stores were open. But now the mall operator has switched to full rentals in February.

At a time when the traders are facing a great difficult period coupled with an acute financial crisis, the full rental charges by malls will wreck the bones of the traders drastically, CAIT Secretary General Praveen Khandelwal told KNN India.

It is to be noted that covid fear has gripped the consumers to a great extent and they are unwilling to visit the markets and therefore the quantum of business in domestic trade is in very low swing, over and above if rentals are charged fully then it will be impossible for traders conducting business activities in malls, Khandelwal added. 

He further said that, “There has to be a gestation period and once the business is fully charged, then only trades be asked to pay full rentals”.

In January, if a brand was open for ten days, we billed them only for those ten days and for restaurants we were doing a revenue-sharing," said Abhishek Bansal, director of Pacific Mall in west Delhi. "For February, the rents will be as per the contract."

In late December and in January, when the third wave of the Covid-19 raged through India, footfall in malls in many cities had nearly halved with stricter curbs like weekend curfews and odd-and-even day opening of stores. (KNN/AT)