Taking a positive approach to the request of the Andhra Pradesh State Road Transportation Corporation (APSRTC), the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam (TTD) has resolved to waive the lease amount of about ₹81.22 lakh pertaining to the lockdown period.
The TTD has leased out certain lands and buildings both at Tirumala and Tirupati to the APSRTC since 1975 and is collecting monthly lease amounts since then.
Though the dues were settled up to March 1988, the process hit a road block thereafter till 2016 when the TTD revised the lease amounts. Accordingly, it decided to realise the same till March 2018.
However, the RTC repeatedly approached TTD with requests to adopt a rational approach in the fixing of the lease amounts, for it reportedly found the charges to be too high.
Finally, the TTD in February last decided to settle the issue besides taking even the correlated factors into consideration. But, the exercise again could not reach its logical end with the outbreak of the pandemic. With this, TTD again could not arrive at a concrete conclusion with regard to the fixing of monthly rent to be collected from RTC on its lands and buildings.
Meanwhile, the RTC discontinued its operations to Tirumala in view of COVID-19 from March 24 last year. Yielding to the request of TTD, it, however, agreed to operate mandatory services for the transportation of TTD employees to and fro from Tirupati even during the lockdown period until it finally resumed operations from June 8.
Citing the local canteens at Tirumala, which were permitted with pre-mature closure and exempted of license condition on two months notice and collect GST as per the statutory norms in view of the pandemic, the RTC authorities in their request letter urged the TTD to extend them the same benefit and waive the lease amount for the lockdown period.
The Estates committee, which was seized with the issue, however, sounded reluctant to entertain the request as it feared would pave the way for similar pleas from other governmental organisations, banks, shops and spiritual organisations and decided to refer the issue to the board of trustees which after discussions, resolved to waive the lease amount.
