Registration of apartment bodies stopped, for now

The Telangana state government has stopped registering apartment associations for two years, losing revenue in the process.

Earlier, the associations had to register themselves with the respective district registrars under the provisions of the Societies Registration Act, 1860, AP Societies Registration Act, 2001, and AP Apartments (Promotion of Construction and Ownership) Act, 1987.

The Kiran Kumar Reddy government issued an order (GO 42 dated 02.02.2013) stopping the registration of apartment associations with the district registrars. It said that the cooperative department would be the authority to register certain associations.

The government resigned, amid the Telangana statehood agitation, before it released the new guidelines. After bifurcation, the government has not taken a decision.

Since then, hundreds of new apartments are waiting to register their associations.

High Court advocate A. Vasudev Yadav said that after GO 42, no district registrar was registering apartment associations. “When apartment residents visit cooperative registrars, they are also refusing to register the associations saying no guidelines have been issued,” he said.

The controversy between two departments is leading to loss of revenue to the government.

An official in the cooperative department said, “We need certain guidelines. We are seeking government’s approval for the guidelines as well as powers on controlling the associations. In the last three years, we have registered only one apartment association, Manasarovar Heights at Trimulgherry. It brought a court order to register,” he said.

There is a lack of clarity over registration issue since

the resignation of the Kiran Kumar Reddy

government that had said cooperative department

would be the authority