The delay in enacting the Karnataka Apartment Ownership Act has been causing a lot of problems for homebuyers. The proposed new Act is expected to benefit homebuyers who are facing problems in forming associations and getting the rights on common areas transferred from promoters to flat owners’ associations.
Forming associations is the responsibility of the promoters, but not many promoters are taking measures to form associations of flat owners. Veteran Naval Commander Surendra said that no government department is ready to take up the responsibility.
Demanding the government clear hurdles in transferring the common areas to the flat owners from the promoters, he said, “It is the responsibility of the promoter to form an association of flat owners.”
Dhananjaya Padmanabachar, Sanchalak of the Karnataka Home Buyers Forum, demanded that the Karnataka RERA take measures for the implementation of norms to ensure homebuyers rights are protected. He said that homebuyers are suffering because of the lack of time-bound action from the authorities. “We request the state government to enact the new Act without any delay. We want the government to establish a separate department to take care of the registration of apartment owners’ associations and facilitate the transfer of common areas to the apartment owners’ associations,’’ he said.
Meanwhile, the Karnataka State Human Rights Commission (KSHRC) sent a notice to the Real Estate Regulatory Authority (RERA) to look into a complaint lodged by Padmanabachar.
He had complained to the KSHRC against the RERA for not taking measures to address the issues of transfer of common areas at apartment complexes and the registration of apartment flat owners associations.
The RERA, in a reply to the complaint, stated that the promoter shall enable the formation of an association or society or cooperative society, as the case may be, of the allottees, or a federation of the same, under the laws applicable. “Provided that in the absence of local laws, the association of allottees, by whatever name called, shall be formed within a period of three months of the majority of allottees having booked their flat or apartment or building, as the case may be in the project,’’ the reply from RERA read.
The RERA said that the Urban Development Department has embarked on enacting the Karnataka Apartment Ownership Act by superseding the existing said Act, 1972 and the Karnataka Ownership Flats Act, 1972. “The RERA did not issue any guidelines or a circular on the registration of apartment owners associations since the draft of the new Act is in the final stages. The RERA will consider issuing guidelines or circulars, if required, only after the new Act comes into effect.”
