New Delhi: For the first time, the Federation of Apartment Owners Associations organised an interactive session on Saturday at the Club of Lumbini, Sector 109, Dwarka Expressway. The event brought together Resident Welfare Associations, Apartment Owners’ Associations, legal experts, and apartment owners from across Haryana.
Federation of Apartment Owners Associations is an umbrella body of AOAs and RWAs in Gurugram. It was formed in 2006 by Col. Bhisham Kumar Dhawan (Retd.), Lt Gen SK Bahri, collectively with some more apartment owners to give apartment owners a common platform to raise issues related to builders, civic services, and housing policies.
It also provides information to apartment owners about government guidelines, rules, and regulations to save the residents from the exploitation of the builders.
Representatives from over 40 apartment associations gathered to speak about the challenges faced by Resident Welfare Associations (RWAs), residents, and federations, and discussed the reforms needed in the governance of residential communities.
The session was moderated by advocate Sanjay Lal, Ritu Bhariok and Sanjay Gupta, followed by participants sharing their problems, solutions and legal advice.
“More than just lodging complaints or raising our voices individually, we need unity among apartment owners. People rarely come together to raise their concerns collectively, but the government listens when issues are raised in a united manner. Just as students have united to protest at Jantar Mantar and farmers have mobilised collectively, apartment owners also need to speak with one voice,” said Sanjay Lal.
Highlighting one of the most common concerns raised during the session, Lal presented a comparison of the legal frameworks governing apartment ownership in Haryana and Maharashtra.
He said Maharashtra has a more owner-centric system, while Haryana’s overlapping laws often create confusion over common area handovers, management, ownership rights, and the functioning of apartment associations. He stressed the need for clearer laws to better protect apartment owners’ rights and strengthen self-governance.
“Today, builders in Haryana behave like local zamindars because the land remains in their ownership, unlike in Maharashtra, where builders are required to transfer the land to the society. If they fail to do so within the stipulated time, the society can obtain deemed conveyance through a statutory process. This has become a key feature of Maharashtra’s housing law in favour of apartment owners”, he added.
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Governance problem among RWAs
The session was divided into two main parts. The first focused on the Haryana Registration and Regulation of Societies (HRRS) Act, 2012, covering issues such as the functioning of RWAs, transparency, elections, accountability, governance challenges, and legal reforms.
The second centred on the Haryana Apartment Ownership Act (HAOA), 1983, where participants discussed builder-related issues, delays in handing over common areas, maintenance and infrastructure problems, apartment owners’ rights, and available legal remedies.
Rishi Shukla, a resident of Gurugram’s Sector 9 who travelled nearly 20 km to attend the meeting, highlighted the issue of builders denying residents membership in RWAs.
“It’s been years since I bought my flat, and I have been trying to get membership in the RWA. However, the builder and existing RWA members are not allowing other residents to become members,” he said.
The issue was echoed by another resident, Satyanand Shukla, who alleged that the builder had denied RWA membership to more than 1,000 residents. Despite filing multiple complaints with the authorities, he said no action had been taken.
Many residents shared similar grievances, expressing frustration over the lack of action by authorities and seeking legal remedies to address their concerns.
Speaking on the issue, Bhariok stressed the need for transparent membership records, democratic elections, accountable financial management, and better governance in RWAs.
She also recommended reforms to the Haryana Registration and Regulation of Societies (HRRS) Act, 2012, including automatic membership for eligible apartment owners, the “One Society, One RWA” principle, greater transparency, stronger financial accountability, electoral reforms such as e-voting, and improved disclosure of information to members.
“Haryana Government and senior authorities should take proactive steps to protect the rights of apartment owners and ensure effective implementation of the HRRS Act, 2012,” Bhariok said, urging the government to address the concerns raised by residents.
(Edited by Ratan Priya)