A research centre of the United Nations University has found "striking differences" in how Indian landlords treat different groups of people looking to rent a house in Delhi. These variations depend on caste and religion, with several landlords frequently discriminating against Muslim tenants, the researchers of the World Institute for Development Economics Research found.
"While the probability that a landlord responds to an upper-caste applicant is 0.35, this is only 0.22 for a Muslim applicant," according to the research findings. The researchers found that even when landlords respond to both Muslims and 'upper-caste' Hindus, they are more likely to call back the latter. It's even harder for Muslims to rent one-bedroom houses, according to their research.
According to their abstract, the two authors of the study, Saugato Datta and Vikram Pathania, conducted an audit experiment in some of the country's largest real estate websites last summer to reach these findings. Most of the landlords they tracked were offering houses on rent in Delhi, Gurgaon, and Noida.
On an average, it was found that landlords take six-and-a-half hours longer to call Muslim applicants than those from the Hindu 'upper caste'. The entire study can be found here.
"While the probability that a landlord responds to an upper-caste applicant is 0.35, this is only 0.22 for a Muslim applicant," according to the research findings. The researchers found that even when landlords respond to both Muslims and 'upper-caste' Hindus, they are more likely to call back the latter. It's even harder for Muslims to rent one-bedroom houses, according to their research.
According to their abstract, the two authors of the study, Saugato Datta and Vikram Pathania, conducted an audit experiment in some of the country's largest real estate websites last summer to reach these findings. Most of the landlords they tracked were offering houses on rent in Delhi, Gurgaon, and Noida.
On an average, it was found that landlords take six-and-a-half hours longer to call Muslim applicants than those from the Hindu 'upper caste'. The entire study can be found here.