State of West Bengal - Act
West Bengal Apartment Ownership Bye-laws, 1974
WEST BENGAL
India
India
West Bengal Apartment Ownership Bye-laws, 1974
Rule WEST-BENGAL-APARTMENT-OWNERSHIP-BYE-LAWS-1974 of 1974
- Published on 23 November 1974
- Commenced on 23 November 1974
- [This is the version of this document from 23 November 1974.]
- [Note: The original publication document is not available and this content could not be verified.]
037.
Notification No. 1505-HIV, dated 23rd November, 1974.In exercise of the power conferred by sub-section (1) of section 13 of the West Bengal Apartment Ownership Act, 1972 (West Bengal Act No. 16 of 1972), the Competent Authority hereby makes, with the prior approval of the State Government, the following bye-laws, namely:Chapter I
Preliminary
1. Short title, commencement and application.
(1) These bye-laws may be called the West Bengal Apartment Ownership Bye-laws, 1974.2. Definitions.
(1) In these bye-laws, unless the context otherwise requires(a)"the Act" means the West Bengal Apartment Ownership Act, 1972 (West Bengal Act No. 16 of 1972);(b)"Apartment Owner" means the person owning or deemed to be owning an apartment under the Act;(c)"appointed day" means the day on which these bye-laws come into force;(d)"Association" means an Association of Apartment Owners;(e)"Board" means a Board of Managers of an Association of Apartment Owners;(f)"Financial Year" means the year commencing on the first day of April;(g)"Form" means a form appended to these bye-laws;(h)"Member" means a member of an Association;(i)"President" means the President of Board, and also of an Association;(j)"Property" means property submitted to the provisions of the Act under section 2; and(k)"Section" means a section of the Act.Chapter II
Formation of Association of Apartment Owners
3. Formation of the Association.
(1)(a) There shall be, in respect of each property, an Association, and each apartment owner of such property shall be a member of such Association;(b)where an apartment owner transfers his apartment by sale or leases out the same he shall cease to be a member of the Association concerned from the date of the sale or lease, as the case may be, and the purchaser, or lessee, on his notifying the purchase or lease to the Board concerned becomes immediately a member of the said Association in place of the transferor;(c)where more persons than one jointly own an apartment, such persons shall nominate one of themselves to be a member of the Association concerned, and immediately send intimation in respect thereof to the Board concerned.4. Powers and functions of an Association.
(l) The final authority of an Association shall vest in the general meeting of the members, which shall administer the property concerned in accordance with the Act and these bye-laws and exercise general supervision over the affairs and business of the Association and, in particular, over the activities of the Board.Chapter III
Constitution of a Board of Managers and its functions
5. Constitution of a Board and its functions.
(1) There shall be a Board of Managers in respect of each Association to carry on and manage the affairs and business of the Association and to exercise all such powers of the Association as are not required to be exercised by the Association in a general meeting.6. Meeting of a Board.
(l) A Board shall meet at least once a month and shall be presided over by its President and in his absence, by a Manager to be elected by the Managers present in the meeting.7. Retirement of Managers.
The number of Managers of the Board who shall retire annually shall be the same as the number of members constituting the Board.8. Removal of Managers.
(a) A Manager may be removed from office at any special general meeting of the Association, convened on the requisition of the Board, by a vote of the majority.of the apartment owners present and thereupon a successor shall be elected from among the apartment owners at that meeting. The Manager so elected shall remain in office for the residue of the term of the Manager on whose removal he has been elected.9. Disqualifications for being Managers.
(1) Any apartment owner, who fails to pay by the 31st January in any financial year any instalment of his contribution towards the common expenses which may have been assessed by the concerned Association in that financial year, shall not be entitled(a)to vote at any election of the Managers of the Board concerned, and(b)to seek election for the office of the Managers of the Board concerned, till all his arrears are cleared.10. Powers and duties of the Boards.
(1) Subject to the final authority of the Association in general meeting it shall be the duty of a Board to do all such acts and things and take all such steps as may be necessary and expedient for carrying out the purpose of the Act and the bye-laws, and, in particular, it shall be directly responsible for(i)the care, up-keep, maintenance, repairs and replacement of the common areas and facilities including the limited common areas and facilities of the property concerned, as referred to in sub-section (2) of section 13;(ii)the collection of money, including arrears, due from each apartment owner on account of monthly assessment made by the Association concerned for payment towards common expenses;(iii)the collection of monthly rents out of the common areas and facilities let out for shopping, commercial or other purposes, as specified in the Declaration submitted under section 2 read with section 10;(iv)the proper maintenance of the funds and accounts of the Association concerned, and, if necessary, for the building up of a reserve fund out of the common profits left over after meeting the common expenses;(v)securing and furthering the interests of the Association concerned in every possible way;(vi)hearing and dealing with all complaints.11. Election of Officers, appointment of Staff and removal of Officers.
12. Resignation of Officers.
The President, Secretary or any other elected officer may resign his office any time by a notice to the Board. On receipt of the notice the Board shall as early as possible at a meeting consider the matter and on the resignation being accepted shall forthwith elect another officer from amongst the Managers of the Board in place of one who has resigned.13. Delegation of powers by a Board.
(1) The President, Secretary, Treasurer and other officers appointed by a Board shall exercise such powers, perform such duties and discharge such functions as may be assigned to them by such Board from time to time.14. Constitution of Sub-Committee.
15. Office of Board.
A Board may, subject to the approval of the Competent Authority, set up its office at such place or places, as it may think suitable.16. Budget and supplementary estimate.
The Board shall, before the 1st day of February each year, cause to be prepared and submitted before the annual general meeting of the Association a budget estimate showing in details anticipated income and expenditure of the Association under different heads for the next financial year, and the annual general meeting of the Association shall consider and approve the budget with such additions, alterations or modifications, if any, as it may deem fit:Provided that in the financial year in which an Association is formed and its Board is constituted, a budget estimate for the year or part of the year, showing in details the anticipated income and expenditure of the Association under different heads including the assessment that may be levied by the Association on its members for payment towards common expenses and other receipts, if any, shall be prepared and submitted by the Board, within thirty days from the date of election of the President, Secretary and Treasurer, before a special meeting of the Association, and the said meeting shall expeditiously consider and approve the budget with such addition, alteration and modification, if any, as it may deem fit:Provided further that the Board may at any time during the year and part of the year for which any budget estimate has been approved, cause a supplementary budget estimate, if necessary, to be prepared and submitted to a general meeting of the Association specially convened for the purpose for approval in the same manner as in the case of an original budget estimate.Chapter IV
Accounts and Audit
17. Finance, Audit and Accounts.
(1) Each Association shall have a fund to be called the Apartment Owners' Association Fund to which shall be credited-(a)all the dues of the Association, on account of any assessment or otherwise, collected from its members, or on account of any rent collected from its tenants;(b)any amount by way of advance, grant, donation, loan or otherwise, received or raised by the Association; and(c)any other amount due, payable, or made over, to the Association.18. Pass Book of Apartment Owners.
Each apartment owner shall have a separate Pass Book for each year in which the Secretary shall enter19. Publication of audited Annual Financial Statement.
(a) Each Association shall, on or before 31st day of July each year, publish an audited annual financial statement in respect of the preceding financial year describing inter alia--Chapter V
Assessment of common expenses by Association and realisation thereof
20. Assessment of the share of common expenses.
(1) Every apartment owner of the property shall be assessed with such sum, being his share of the common expenses for the year as may be determined by the Association concerned to defray the common expenses which may include an insurance premium and any repair and reconstruction work in case of hurricane, fire, earthquake or any other kind of hazard or calamity.21. Payment of common expenses.
The assessed sum on account of common expenses shall be payable by each apartment owner in equal monthly or quarterly instalments, as determined by the Association concerned, within fifteen days from the expiry of the month or the quarter, as the case may be.2. Manner of payment of common expenses.
Every apartment owner shall pay to the Treasurer the sum payable by him on account of the assessment made upon him by the Association concerned within such period and in such manner as the Association may direct and the Treasurer shall, on receiving such payment, issue receipts in respect thereof.23. Preparation and publication of list of defaulters.
At a meeting of the Board at the end of a month or a quarter, as the case may be, the position of realisation of the sums assessed on account of common expenses shall be reviewed and a list of the defaulters shall be prepared and published in a conspicuous place of the office of the Board with a notice for payment of the arrears within fifteen days from the date of the notice.24. Steps to be taken for realisation of arrears.
If the arrears be not paid within the period referred to in bye-law 23, the next meeting of the Board will consider the case of the defaulters individually and will take such steps for realisation, as may be considered necessary, including the prosecution of the defaulting apartment owner for noncompliance with, and breach of, the provisions of Act and the bye-laws.Chapter VI
Other duties and obligations of the Apartment Owners
25. Duties and liabilities of the Apartment Owners.
(1) Every apartment owner shall, on being directed by the Board, immediately undertake and complete all maintenance and repair work within his own unit, which, if delayed, is likely to affect the property concerned, wholly or in part, and he shall be solely responsible for the damage that his failure to undertake such work may cause to the said property or part thereof and shall also be liable on the said account for payment of damages as may be determined by the Board.26. Board to be notified when structural additions or alterations, etc. of apartment are intended.
(a) An apartment owner intending to make any structural additions or alterations in his apartment shall notify the Board concerned giving details thereof in writing, and the Board shall, after hearing the apartment owner concerned and making such enquiry as it may deem fit, either permit or refuse, within thirty days of the receipt of such notice for such additions or alterations. Where no intimation is received from the Board within the aforesaid period, the Board shall be deemed to have permitted structural' additions or alterations sought to be made by the apartment owner.27. Encumbrance of apartment to be notified to the Board.
An apartment owner who mortgages his apartment or otherwise encumbers it shall immediately notify the Board concerned the name and address of his mortgages or the details of the encumbrance, as the case may be.28. Sale of apartment to be notified to the Board.
An apartment owner who sells or otherwise transfers his apartment shall immediately notify the Board of the fact stating the name of the purchaser or transferee and his address.Similarly the purchaser or transferee of the apartment shall immediately apart from executing and registering an instrument in the form, as provided for in clause (ii) of sub-section (3) of section 4, notify the Board concerned about his ownership or interest, as the case may be, of the apartment in question.29. Use of common areas and facilities.
The owner or occupier of an apartment shall not place or cause to be placed in the lobbies, vestibules stairways, corridors, elevators and other areas and facilities, both common and restricted, any furniture, package or object of any kind, and such areas shall be used for no other purpose than for normal transit through them.30. Right of entry into an apartment.
(a) The owner or occupier of an apartment and, in his absence, the oldest member of his family present in the apartment shall in case of any emergency originating in or threatening such apartment, grant the right of entry into such apartment to any officer, Manager of the Board concerned or resident of the property concerned to enable him to take immediate suitable steps in the interest of safety, preservation or maintenance of the particular apartment, the neighbouring apartments or the entire property concerned.31. Restriction on certain acts.
No resident of any apartment of the property shallChapter VII
Miscellaneous
32.
These bye-laws are mandatory and breach of any of these bye-laws Bengal any apartment owner is an offence punishable under sub-section (1) of section 16A.33. Seal of the Association.
The Association shall have a common seal in its name and style which shall remain in the custody of the Secretary and shall be used only under the authority of the Association and of the Board concerned.Form 1(See Bye-law 3(2)]ToThe Competent AuthorityUnder The West Bengal Apartment Ownership Act, 1972Sir,I hereby communicate that in a general meeting duly held on.....................................presided over by the undersigned, the Association of apartment owners under the name and style of............for our property at.............already submitted to the provisions of the West BengalApartment Ownership Act, 1972, has been formed under the bye-laws framed under the said Act with the following as members thereof:Name of the member:No. of the apartments in thebuilding owned by him/her.| (1) | Shri/Smt. | President |
| (2) | Shri/Smt. | Manager |
| (3) | Shri/Smt. | Manager |
| (4) | Shri/Smt. | Manager |