Hyderabad, Apr 19 (IANS): The Telangana government on Sunday directed the house owners to defer collecting rent from residential tenants for three months with effect from March.

The state cabinet took the decision to provide relief to tenants in view of hardships caused by the lockdown.

Chief Minister K. Chandrashekhar Rao told a news conference after the cabinet meeting that if house owners harass the tenants for rent, they may lodge a complaint by dialing 100.

The house owners were also directed not to collect interest on rent arrears.

In another major decision, the government directed the private schools not to hike the fee for the academic year 2020-21. The schools were asked to collect only the tuition fee and that too on a monthly basis and not on quarterly or any other basis.

The government also decided to defer property tax and fixed electricity charges for the industry till the end of May. The electricity billing will be on actual consumption and not on a fixed basis.

Deferred payments can be made without any penalty or interest.