Gurgaon’s PGs tell us how they’re wrung dry

There’s a huge demand for paying guest accommodation in the city, but the high rents aren’t always all you have to pay. Gurgaon’s PGs tell us the creative & sneaky means their landlords use to wring extra cash out of them.
From fudging up electricity bills to charging extra for nightouts – Gurgaon tenants on how their PG landlords will go to any lengths for extra cash.
Flooded with outstation employees and students, Gurgaon is the perfect place to run the PG business. However, more often that not, the stay-at-home-and-pay-system turns out to be a bigger nuisance than staying on your own and managing everything? Squeezing funds by hook or by crook is a well-known trend within this industry, so Gurgaonwallahs tell us about the daily nuisance they face in their lives, courtesy their PG uncles and aunties, along with the sneaky tricks that these landlords adopt to get the most out of their tenants’ pockets.
My landlady charges Rs 100 for night-out permission
Aditi Patel*, 20, student, living in a PG in Gurgaon, says, “My PG aunty used to never let us go for night-outs and she would lock the main gate at 10pm sharp. If we wanted to go out, we had to leave before 10 and stay over at someone’s place till 7am because there was no way we could get back in before that. It was a pain to go anywhere at night because of all this nonsense. Weekends and dinners were also difficult. Many people wanted to leave and two girls actually did leave because of this reason. The only good thing about this PG was that it was newly built and quite reasonably priced, by Gurgaon’s standards, so I didn’t want to change homes. We used to pester her a lot but she would tell us that our parents had told her to not let us go anywhere, so we didn’t know what to say after that. Once my roommate told her, while joking around, to take extra money but to please just let us go out. She was simply fooling around and it was really shocking when auntie said ke har ek nightout ke 100 rupaye de dia karna mujhe. At first, we were quite stunned, but at the same time, it was also a relief since life became a lot easier after that. So, to keep the gate open till 12am in the night, she takes 100 bucks, and post that it becomes `200. We give her the monthly amount of our night-outs with the rent and electricity bill, and of course, our parents can never know. There is a verbal agreement between us that she is not responsible if our parents find out, so handling that is our headache.”
My room was sublet by my landlords
Nomita Kamboj, 22, who works for an MNC, tells us, “I was living in a PG a year ago when I was still a student. I had an individual room and was paying them electricity bills per unit, besides the rent, like in most PGs. Once, I went back home for summer vacations and told them I would be back after a month and a half. But because my viva exams were pre-poned, I returned about ten days earlier. When I reached, I found a couple was staying there, watching my TV and comfortably using my AC. I started fuming and told them that they were staying in the room that I had rented out, but they seemed to have no clue and said that they had paid rent for the same room as well. My landlords stayed on the floor below mine so I went down and pretty much brought down the whole house. I was appalled at the whole situation and my landlady had the audacity to then say, ‘sirf ek mahine ki hi toh baat thi’ and ‘aap jaldi kaise aa gaye’. Needless to say I took my stuff, half month’s rent, security and left.”
I was asked to pay per meal and per wash
Anita Srivastava*, 23, a sales professional, says, “I am staying in a PG flat, where my room has a separate entry and an attached kitchen, but my landlady refused to let me keep a cook. She said she didn’t like ‘strangers’ coming into the house. She told me this after I had paid brokerage and deposit, so I couldn’t even leave. My job is very hectic. When I reach home by 8pm, I just want my dinner to be ready. I don’t have time to cook or wash my clothes. So, my landlady said her servant could cook my meals, but for that I had to pay 100 bucks per meal, and 120 bucks per wash in the washing machine. So, even if I wanted breakfast, like a toast or boiled egg, I had to pay her 100 bucks for that. Initially, since I was new in the city and didn’t know the ways, I paid her, until I found out about cheaper tiffin services and started having just cereal for breakfast. I have paid her two months’ rent and it’s been a month already, so I am moving out as soon as this month gets over.”
My rent is to be doubled in three months
Dilroop Saini, 20, a student, says, “My PG landlady only signs three-month contracts and one of the clauses says that the rent will go double at the end of three months. It’s bizarre but her trick is to quote a higher price to the new tenant so that she can make 2-3K more every few months. Right now, I am paying 15K for a room and after three months, I’ll have to pay 30K. Obviously, no one would stay there and pay 30K just for a room! So, she will get someone new and maybe charge them 17K or so. Already, girls are coming to see my room and I keep telling them to not pay her more than 15.”
Our electricity meter was attached to the landlord’s living room area
Ahilya Saraf, 24, an auditing professional, says, “In my previous PG, we had a meter attached to the room for our electricity bills, but we never understood why the bill would come out to be so exorbitant. It was winter time and we didn’t use the AC or fan. Even though my roommate and I were at work all day, our bill would be around `4,000. It was only when both of us went home for a fortnight at the same time and that month our bill again came to `3,000, did we realise something was seriously wrong. We told the maid and she told us that the previous tenants also had the same issue and that is because the living room, which is adjacent to our room, was attached to the same meter. When we asked our landlords about this, they simply denied it. So, as soon as I found a new place, I moved out of there. Thank God.”
My landlord lied to me about an expensive wi-fi package
Bharat Pahwa, 24, who works for an ad agency, tells us, “My landlords got a wi-fi connection and asked me if I wanted to share the expenses. I was using a data card till then and they told me that it had unlimited downloads and the entire expenditure was `2,000 which could be equally divided, since I was the only person staying in the PG. For the first two months, there were a lot of problems. The first few days, the speed would be superb, and after that it would become really slow for the whole month. I couldn’t download anything or even stream a video. I would ask them, and they would say, haan bahut slow hai internet, humein bahut problem aati hai, like they were sharing my grievances. Since the connection was in their name, I asked them to get a complaint registered, but nothing changed. Finally I got fed up and called the internet company on my own, just to be told that the package was only for `750 and the entire download limit had been used up by my landlord in the first few days of the month. I was quite furious and fought for my money later. He had no choice but to give it back to me, and even though I got it back, I was quite disgusted by the whole scenario. It was such a waste of time and energy just so that he could make a mere thousand extra per month. So much for unlimited download!”
*Some names have been changed on request