1) Under the TNAOA, membership in an Association of Apartment Owners is an inseparable statutory incident of ownership. Anyone who owns an apartment automatically becomes a member. 

2) The Association cannot strip them of membership or treat them as "non-members" simply because they have failed to furnish KYC documents or pay the ₹500 migration administrative fee. They are legally classified as defaulting/non-compliant owners.

3)  Defaulting owners are entitled to attend General Body Meetings and participate in discussions. Because they hold an undivided share (UDS) in the property, decisions made by the General Body directly affect their assets and financial liabilities. Depriving them of the right to voice their views violates basic principles of natural justice and the democratic functioning of the Association

4)   If an owner fails to clear financial dues (the ₹500 fee) or submit vital compliance data (migration/KYC documents), the Association can restrict them from voting or contesting elections, provided such restrictions are explicitly drafted into valid, registered Bye-laws

5) the Association cannot lock out a defaulting owner from standard common facilities (lifts, staircases, common passages) or disconnect basic utilities (water, electricity). Doing so amounts to an illegal restriction on property enjoyment.

Dear Sir/Madam,

They cannot be treated as non-members merely for not giving KYC/ownership documents or not paying ₹500. They remain apartment owners, but are defaulting/non-compliant members.

Their ownership, UDS and right to use common areas cannot be taken away. However, voting or contesting rights can be restricted only if the TNAOA, Rules and valid registered bye-laws permit it.

The Association should issue written notice and recover dues/enforce document compliance through the competent authority or legal proceedings, instead of denying property rights.

No direct Madras High Court/Supreme Court judgment on this exact TNAOA 2022 migration issue should be relied on without checking all documents.

Advocate Saurabh Agrawal

Under the Tamil Nadu Apartment Ownership Act, 2022 (TNAOA) and the accompanying Tamil Nadu Apartment Ownership Rules, 2024, the rights and liabilities of apartment owners are clearly bifurcated into two distinct categories: Statutory Property Rights (which are absolute) and Administrative/Voting Rights (which are conditional and subject to compliance with the Association's bye-laws).

Under Section 3 of the TNAOA and Rule 5(1) of the 2024 Rules, membership is an inseparable, statutory consequence of owning an apartment. If a person holds a registered title/sale deed to a flat within the project, they are automatically a member of the Association by operation of law.

While they cannot be stripped of their title, an owner cannot demand the active exercise of administrative privileges while refusing to comply with the statutory migration requirements. The submission of ownership details (such as carpet area and exact Undivided Share - UDS) is a mandatory requirement to register the Association's Master Declaration under the Act.

Defaulting owners are entitled to attend General Body Meetings (GBMs) and participate in discussions. Because the decisions taken by a majority at a GBM are legally binding on all owners (Section 23), a non-compliant owner cannot be barred from the room or silenced during deliberations, as any final resolutions directly impact their financial and property liabilities. However they cannot vote or contest elections if they have failed to clear approved charges or supply necessary KYC data, provided this restriction is explicitly detailed in the registered bye-laws.

Administrative restrictions cannot be applied arbitrarily or via a loose committee decision. Under the TNAOA framework, any suspension of voting privileges or the right to stand for the Board of Managers must arise strictly out of the registered bye-laws of the Association.

During a structural migration between regulatory Acts, the existing governing body acts as a de facto caretaker caretakers to ensure community services do not collapse, provided they do not pass new rules that defy the incoming statute.

Only if the association makes you member they can recover the charges otherwise not. Denying your rights and seeking charges from you is not teneble in law 

Sir/Madam, 

In the present case, the bye-laws of the society (or RWA which might have been prepared for the RWA/Society) concerned matters a lot and you are required to refer the same. It might be having the clauses which may bring solution to your queries. However, in the present situation when the said owners might have paid the other money charges and would have the coneyeance deed and other documents in their favor, they would be called defaulting/non-compliant owners. There might be clauses in bye-laws to deal with such members and if the same is not there, a general body meeting may be called to discuss the situation and amend the bye-laws to the present situation. If the GBM appoves the bye-laws and the same also accepted by registrar of society, the recovery can be made from the defaulting members through registrar of society. 

Under the Tamil Nadu Apartment Ownership Act, 2022, ownership of an apartment and membership of the Association are intrinsically linked. A person who owns an apartment does not cease to be an apartment owner merely because he has failed to furnish KYC documents or pay an administrative charge approved by the General Body. Such a person continues to be an apartment owner with an undivided share (UDS) in the common areas and continues to enjoy proprietary rights over the apartment. Therefore, non-compliance with procedural requirements for migration or administrative formalities does not divest the owner of ownership rights or convert him into a "non-member."

However, such an owner can certainly be treated as a defaulting or non-compliant owner if he has failed to comply with lawful resolutions of the General Body, including furnishing documents reasonably required for migration under the Act or payment of duly approved charges. The Association is entitled to call upon such owners to comply and, in the event of continued default, recover lawful dues and enforce compliance through the remedies available under the Act, the Rules and the applicable bye-laws.

As regards participation in General Body Meetings, ownership ordinarily entitles an apartment owner to receive notice of meetings and attend them. Whether voting rights or eligibility to contest elections can be restricted depends upon the provisions of the Act, the Rules and, more importantly, the registered bye-laws of the Association. In the absence of a statutory provision or valid bye-law expressly providing for suspension of voting rights on account of default, the Association cannot arbitrarily deprive an apartment owner of such rights merely because documents have not been furnished or an administrative charge remains unpaid.

Similarly, non-compliance with KYC requirements or migration formalities does not affect ownership of the apartment, the owner's undivided share in the common areas, access to common facilities, or liability to contribute towards common expenses. These rights and obligations arise from ownership itself and not from compliance with administrative formalities. At the same time, an owner cannot refuse indefinitely to furnish documents legitimately required for migration if such requirement flows from the Act, the Rules or the bye-laws. The proper remedy for the Association is to enforce compliance through notices, recovery proceedings and other legal remedies rather than treating the owner as having ceased to be a member or depriving him of proprietary rights.

The distinction between ownership rights and management rights has been recognised by courts in various contexts. While ownership rights are proprietary in nature and cannot ordinarily be taken away except in accordance with law, management rights such as voting, contesting elections or holding office may be regulated by statute or validly framed bye-laws. Accordingly, if the Association intends to restrict voting rights of defaulting owners, such restriction should have a clear legal foundation in the Act, the Rules or the registered bye-laws and cannot be imposed merely by an executive decision or resolution unsupported by law.

In the absence of a specific provision under the Tamil Nadu Apartment Ownership Act, 2022 or the registered bye-laws providing otherwise, the safer legal view is that default in furnishing documents or payment of an approved administrative charge does not extinguish membership flowing from ownership, though it may expose the owner to recovery proceedings and other lawful consequences. The Association's remedy is to enforce compliance and recover dues through the legal mechanisms available rather than denying ownership-related rights or treating such persons as strangers to the Association.

Dear Client, Under the Tamil Nadu Apartment Ownership Act of 2022 ownership rights are distinct from administrative compliance Every person who holds a valid title deed to an apartment is legally an apartment owner under this act regardless of whether they have furnished the KYC documents or paid specific administrative charges to the association These individuals cannot be stripped of their core property rights such as their ownership of the apartment their share in the undivided interest or their right to access common areas simply due to non compliance with association level administrative requests.

However membership in the Association of Apartment Owners (AOA) comes with a mandatory obligation to comply with the associations registered by laws While the Act does not empower the AOA to terminate a person’s ownership rights for non payment or failure to provide KYC it does allow the AOA to enforce financial and administrative discipline through the mechanisms provided in the bylaws if your bylaws contains provisions that classify members in the category of defaulters and restrict their voting rights or eligibility to contest elections such restrictions are generally enforceable provided they were adopted through a valid General Body resolution and are not arbitrary.

In essence, these non compliant owners remain apartment owners with full property rights but they are can be treated as defaulters regarding their association level privileges They are entitled to reside in their units and use common facilities as these are inherent to their ownership rights However you can legally restrict their right to vote or contest elections if your bylaws specifically provide for such disqualifications Instead of attempting to expel them or deny them access to their property which would be legally risky and likely struck down by a court the AOA should initiate formal recovery proceedings such as issuing legal notices for dues imposing late payment interest as permitted by your bylaws or even seeking a recovery order through the competent authority or civil court if the defaults persists. I hope this answer helps, if you have any further query kindly do not hesitate to contact us. Thankyou