Ahead of the May 10 Karnataka assembly elections, political parties have held out a raft of promises to homebuyers, offering a solution to the many problems they confront.
One common promise made by both the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the opposition Congress is to amend the Karnataka Apartment Ownership Act, 1972, to protect the rights of homebuyers including one to form Resident Welfare Associations (RWAs) to oversee the upkeep of common areas.
The BJP has pledged to improve the "ease of living" for homebuyers by forming a Karnataka Residents’ Welfare Consultative Committee. The committee will examine and suggest amendments to the Karnataka Apartment Ownership Act (KAOA).
The Congress party has also promised to amend KAOA to provide easy and efficient conveyance (transfer) of land titles to homebuyers.
According to lawyer Abhilash Naik, a reply by the Registrar of Cooperative Societies in Karnataka had clarified that it wasn’t empowered to address the grievances of homebuyers whose apartments were registered under KAOA.
Apartment owners’ woes
Forty years after the enactment of KAOA, the state government has still not notified rules for a competent authority to tackle such grievances. Until now, an aggrieved homebuyer has had no option but to approach the civil courts for relief.
It’s the first time that political parties have taken note of homebuyers' issues said Anil Kalgi, president of the Bangalore City Flat Owners' Welfare Association.
Even so, Kalgi said amending KAOA would not solve the problems of apartment owners unless they are allowed to form apartment owners' organizations as a corporate body.
"Conveyance (transfer of titles) needs association of allottees as body corporates. I am hopeful that the new state government solve the problems of apartment owners by exercising the 97th amendment to the Constitution that inserted Article 43B. The state government needs to exercise this under state policies," he added.
Article 43B speaks about setting up corporate bodies.
BJP promises
Additionally, BJP has promised that all resident welfare associations and compliance applications will be made available online. An effective status monitoring system will be put in place to ensure timely processing of the applications, the BJP manifesto said.
The BJP also said if reelected, its government will establish a Karnataka Home Owners’ Grievance Redressal Cell to ensure seamless resolution of various difficulties confronted by RWAs.
Among its other commitments, the BJP has promised to build 1 million houses within five years, it also said it will establish metro rail networks for affordable last-mile connectivity in Mysuru, Hubli-Dharwad and Belagavi.
These cities do not have metro connectivity although the state government said last year that new plans were being prepared for such projects in Tier II cities like Mysuru.
TDRs
The Congress party said it is committed to simplifying Transferable Development Rights (TDR) to help landowners who lost their plots to development projects. Additionally, it promised to bring amendments to building bylaws to make them owner-friendly.
TDR is a zoning technique used to protect plots of land that have a conservation value permanently. These spaces include farmlands, natural and cultural resources as well as open community spaces.
Several decisions to take up projects by municipal corporations have been put on hold in Karnataka due to the absence of clarity. In September 2022, the state government notified the grant of Development Rights Certificates (DRCs) to landowners.
Today, homebuyers say more clarity is needed in procedures for issuing DRCs and also the procedure to follow while acquiring private properties, especially for building roads and metro routes across cities.
Additionally, by amending how a land title is transferred, homebuyers say, they will own their share in undivided land that will also be reflected in the land records of the revenue department.
Once a residential project is completed, the developer has to execute a registered conveyance deed in favour of the allottee along with an undivided proportionate title in the common areas to the association of allottees or the competent authority to comply with Section 17 of the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016 (RERA).
Welfare associations top wishlist
All said and done, homebuyers’ primary wish is for resident welfare associations to be recognized as the competent authority to represent their interests and oversee the upkeep of common areas.
Dhananjaya Padmanabhachar, an office bearer in the Karnataka Home Buyers Forum, said a Public interest litigation (PIL) was still pending in Karnataka High Court on KAOA 1972.
"As homebuyers, we what clear directions from the government on who is the competent authority to register apartment owners association and common area transfer to association of allottees as per Section 17, of RERA Act," Padmanabjhachar added.
Padmanabhachar noted that political parties have mentioned the implementation of KAOA without mentioning the related Karnataka Ownership Flats Act (KOFA) 1972.
"KOFA clearly defines the process and guidelines for the formation of apartment owners association in Section 10 and sets the directions for transfer of title to owners associations in Section 11. Recently, in February 2023, the legal department of the state government responded to an RTI, saying the apartment association is to be registered as a co-operative society or as a company by following Section 10 of KOFA 1972," he said.
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