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Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar on Saturday said the Karnataka government is moving ahead with plans to introduce the Karnataka Apartment (Ownership and Management) Bill, 2025, a proposed law aimed at safeguarding the rights and interests of apartment owners and residents across the State.
Addressing apartment residents and representatives of the Bangalore Apartments Federation (BAF) at a special interaction held at the Vidhana Soudha, Shivakumar said the government was keen on drafting the legislation through wide stakeholder consultation. He urged residents to share detailed feedback to help shape the Bill, adding that those who were unable to attend the meeting could email their suggestions within the next 10 days.
The proposed legislation
comes at a time when apartment living has become a defining feature of Bengaluru’s urban landscape. Shivakumar noted that nearly 19% of the city’s population now resides in apartments, yet the Karnataka Apartment Ownership Act, 1972, has remained largely untouched for over five decades despite the city’s rapid vertical growth.
“This government stands firmly with apartment owners and residents. We want to understand your issues and incorporate your suggestions before finalising the Bill,” the Deputy Chief Minister said, underlining the need for an updated and comprehensive legal framework.
During the interaction, apartment representatives highlighted a range of long-pending concerns, including delays in the transfer of ownership rights and undivided share of land from developers, non-handover of completion certificates and essential documents, and failure to transfer corpus funds to associations. They also raised questions over the ambiguity surrounding common areas and commercial spaces within apartment complexes.
Participants further called for a dedicated, time-bound dispute resolution mechanism for association-level conflicts, clearer provisions for redevelopment and amalgamation of ageing buildings, consolidation of multiple overlapping laws into a single statute, and greater use of technology to simplify compliance and governance.
The meeting also took on a political tone as Shivakumar sought the cooperation of apartment residents in the upcoming Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA) elections. He said the government, while working for the welfare of residents, expected electoral support in return.
Recalling past disappointments, he referred to a lack of backing from apartment communities during previous elections despite the government’s intervention during the city’s severe borewell crisis.
Shivakumar listed initiatives already extended to apartment dwellers, including free power up to 200 units and an instalment-based scheme for water connections. He added that the formation of the GBA itself was part of a broader effort to improve governance in a city that has grown “too big” for fragmented administration.
Responding sharply to what he described as attempts to pressure the government, Shivakumar dismissed an alleged threat by a resident suggesting that apartment owners could influence the GBA polls if their demands were not met. “We are not scared of threats,” he said, asserting that the outreach was driven by respect and a commitment to public service, not political compulsion.
Once stakeholder feedback is compiled and discussions are held with legislators, the proposed Bill is expected to be introduced as a key reform to address decades-old challenges faced by apartment residents across Karnataka.
