The state Assembly on Wednesday passed the West Bengal Apartment Ownership (Amendment) Bill that allows flat owners in a building or a housing complex to form an association with a minimum membership of 51 per cent.

In its original form, the West Bengal Apartment Ownership Act of 1972 deems a residents' association valid only if all the owners of the building or housing complex are part of it.

The process of forming associations is often delayed by the requirement that all flat owners be a part of the body. Many buildings and housing complexes in Calcutta and elsewhere in Bengal do not have residents' associations despite people moving in several years ago.

In the absence of residents' associations, there is little by way of routine maintenance in these buildings or housing complexes. In some cases, the builders or promoters continue to maintain these properties and charge a monthly, quarterly or annual fee that is often higher than required.

State housing minister Aroop Biswas said the amendment bill was meant to ease the process of forming an association of residents and give them the decision-making powers required to maintain a property.

"Flat owners can set up an association if at least 51 per cent of them are willing to do so. There are many buildings and complexes that have no association because of the requirement that all owners should be its members," said Biswas, responding to the debate on the bill before it was passed.

Highrise apartment buildings have certain common facilities for all owners. These facilities are usually maintained by the associations, for which they charge a fee that is mostly calculated per square feet.

"In the absence of associations, many buildings don't even have staircase lights. Malfunctioning lifts not being repaired for months, shabby surroundings and poor maintenance of common assets such as terraces and gardens are also common. Our government has decided to get this bill passed to ensure better maintenance of apartment buildings," Biswas said.

Participating in the discussion on the bill, CPM legislator Gouranga Chatterjee said the credit for detecting the "flaw" in the act should go to the erstwhile Left Front government. He said a law empowering flat owners to form an association if the majority of them were willing to do so had been framed a decade ago when his party was in power.

Minister Biswas sought to establish that the rule introduced by the Left Front didn't help, citing multiple court cases by flat owners unwilling to be part of any such association.

Shahjahan Chowdhury of the CPM said the implementation of the amendment would require proper monitoring to ensure that builders or promoters weren't able to misuse the new clause to set up residents' associations with people of their choice.

Another provision in the West Bengal Apartment Ownership (Amendment) Bill passed on Wednesday allows complexes with different categories of flats on the premises - lower, middle and higher income groups - to have separate associations for each.