BENGALURU: Apartment owners across the city are facing uncertainty regarding the establishment and registration of their resident welfare associations (RWAs). Issues range from the handover of communal assets to ambiguous directives from authorities. Residents report being pressured to assume maintenance responsibilities while still paying fees to the authorities, creating confusion about their rights, ownership, and the legal framework governing their associations.
For example, in the BDA Kaniminike Housing Project, the civic authority issued a letter to homebuyers, urging them to form an association and submit a maintenance payment of 1%. This letter stated that all maintenance services, such as security, housekeeping, and waste management, would be withdrawn unless homebuyers renewed their contracts. It also instructed them to comply with high court directives concerning RWA formation, naming the registrar of cooperative societies as the competent authority, and to conduct elections for the governing body.
This has left many homebuyers perplexed. One resident noted, “We are filing RTI requests, visiting the BDA weekly, and doing everything we can to gain clarity. Initially, we considered registering under the Societies Act, then switching to the Karnataka Apartment Ownership Act, but the registrar is blocking this. They claim our only option is to register as a club, which is illogical for apartment residents. We feel lost and anxious about our investment and ownership.”
Sameera Bharadwaj, 47, living in the Prestige Lake Ridge apartments in Uttarahalli, remarked, “Unregistered apartment associations face significant challenges. Common assets like clubhouses, generators, solar panels, and parking areas are often not formally handed over by builders. They create their own deeds and bylaws without adhering to the Karnataka Apartment Ownership Act, presenting them as valid associations with just a PAN card to collect fees. Without a registered body, residents can’t uphold their rights, leaving them vulnerable to builders exploiting loopholes.”
Dhananjaya Padmanabhachar, convener of the Karnataka Home Buyers Forum, commented, “There hasn’t been any cabinet decision regarding the apartment Act since the deputy chief minister’s announcement. Thousands of apartments in Karnataka need to establish ownership associations for proper management of common areas and control over common land from developers. This could become a significant obstacle for apartments preparing for redevelopment.”
Many homebuyers are disappointed that the bill addressing this issue wasn’t passed during the recent assembly session. The issue was first raised during a Brand Bengaluru session in July 2023, where over 300 RWAs called for comprehensive legal reforms.
A senior official from the urban development department stated, “There is some confusion, which is one reason for proposing a new Apartment Act. Efforts are underway to get the Act approved; it’s currently with the Chief Minister’s Office. We’ve been told that, along with consulting apartment associations, he also wants to seek advice from additional experts, which is why it wasn’t included in the recent assembly session.”
