Only if your society is registered, the model bye-laws are applicable to every resident.

Each member is mandated to pay maintenance charges under the law. In an unregistered society or apartment association, members cannot be forced to do so. In most cases, the members are themselves held accountable for fixing any damage or paying for services since there is no managing committee to look after such needs.

Thus it has been observed that while in an unregistered society, some members get together, form an Adhoc committee and collect maintenance charges.

Some members pay willingly while others refuse to pay up, burdening others with their share of financial responsibility.

In the case of a registered society, the Managing Committee can penalise defaulting members and collect the dues as well as interest.

Moreover the funds are collected in an individual member's personal bank account hence it will certainly pave way for a big dispute from the non-cooperative members.

The managing committee of the society has the right to act as a mediator or arbitrator with the power to resolve disputes among members.

In case of an unregistered society, with no supervising authority, petty or big disputes such as parking slot occupancy, late-night partying, the encroachment of space, etc.persists without a satisfactory resolution. In worst-case scenarios, members facing major problems have the option to approach the police or civil court.

But if a society is registered, many problems find solutions with peaceful negotiation and conflict resolution provided by the managing committee.

In the case of unregistered societies, members pay heavy amounts out of pocket to fix any broken amenities or if an emergency occurs.

This is not a feasible approach to handling financial management in the long run.

The prudent and advantageous action would be to register your society at the earliest and receive a complete handover from the builder.

Not registering your society can leave you vulnerable to disasters and unforeseeable circumstances.

You cannot recover interest and charge penalty as you are not a registered society 

register the association.adopt bye laws governing the running of association

Request the builder to hand over to society 

if you are registered society then bank accounts should be in name of society and not individual member 

Dear Client,

If the committee or association is not legally registered, it does not have the same legal authority as a registered society. Legally, an unregistered association does not have the statutory power to enforce interest and penalties on defaulters. The collection of dues, interest, or penalties must typically be done through a legally recognized entity with the authority to enforce such payments, like a registered cooperative housing society. Collecting dues in an individual’s personal account can raise concerns regarding transparency and legality. The best legal course of action would be to press the builder to hand over the society registration papers and formalize the maintenance structure under a registered cooperative housing society. Once registered, the society can legally collect dues, charge interest, and impose penalties on defaulters as per its by-laws. In the meantime, you may seek to negotiate with the defaulters, emphasizing the necessity of maintaining the common areas for everyone's benefit. Without formal registration, your ability to enforce penalties or even compel payment is significantly weakened. You may rely on the goodwill and voluntary compliance of members, but this is not a legally enforceable solution. Should you require any further clarification, please do not hesitate to contact us.

You have two option to recover arrears with interest.

1. The servicer provider can directly recover maintenance  arrear through a GPA given to any of the  
2. “Our society is already registered but is not handed over to the society by the builder” ? Please clarify. A society registered can recover any arrears, handed over or not.

- As per the Karnataka High , the money collected by an association that is not registered as a body corporate is unauthorized.

- Further, the absence of registration deprives unregistered societies of legal recognition as separate entities, and they cannot enter into contracts, own property, or sue in their name.

- Further,  an unregistered society or association of persons does not have the legal status to institute a suit in its own name in India.

- Hence, the unregistered housing societies association cannot charge interest and penalties from the defaulter member legally. 

- As per law, builder is legally bound to hand over all documents to the co-operative housing society , and failure to execute conveyance in favor of the housing society amounts to deficiency in service and builder can be penalized for the same.

- Hence, a complaint can be filed against the builder for the same. 

You need to register it else your suit or proceeding before any competent authority will be not tenable