It’s quite common to hear of youngsters throwing parties late into the night with blaring music and conversations being carried into other’s flats.
Unfortunately, because of such ruckus behaviour of a few bachelors, the whole tribe has to suffer.
Citing bad behaviour and misconduct of some youngsters as the reason, Rohan Vasantha Apartments in Marathahalli recently asked tenants who are ‘bachelors, spinsters, students and single working men and women’ to move out after completing their tenancy, after which it would not be renewed.
Earlier, these tenants were asked to move out by December, 2013, which is no longer the case.
The notice stated that the Rohan Vasantha Apartment Owners Association (RVAOA) has decided to stop issuing NOC for tenants in cases wherein the tenant is a bachelor/spinster/student/single working men or women and is going to use the flat inside Rohan Vasantha Apartments with other friends/colleagues/etc.
Justifying this move, Jestin Antony, president of RVAOA, says, “The clause of not renting the flat out to any bachelor or using it for commercial purposes was in the deed of declaration signed by every owner.
When some of the owners started shifting base, they rented out their flats to bachelors. Back then, it wasn’t too much of a problem but now, we’re forced to invoke the clause because of the behaviour of some of these tenants.
There have been incidents where a tenant’s friend got violent with a resident and we had to approach the police. Security is a concern because there are families and children living here too.”
He adds that the association was forced to take this stand because there came a situation when they had to police these tenants.
“Not all of them are in the wrong. Many of them are just in bad company and if there’s some complaint from any resident, the tenant gets blamed because he invited the troublemaker. Regardless of whether they are bachelors or not, no tenant can use the flat commercially and I’ve seen people doing exactly that. Initially, we even faced resistance from the owners but now, they themselves are seeing that the problem is real.
We are not asking them to leave by December but will not be renewing the lease unless the owner signs an undertaking taking it as his or her own responsibility,” adds Jestin.
Kapil Agarwal, a tenant, shares his point of view. “This is an uncalled for situation but we’re fine with moving out. The problem in the long run is that other societies will also start implementing similar rules. There are other ways to sort out this problem,” he opines.
Nukul Upadhye, a bachelor tenant, notes that this ‘one solution fits all’ approach is unfair. “The eviction isn’t happening based on the contract, lease paper or our behaviour. It’s being done on the basis of our marital status and I don’t see how that makes any sense. When we tried to peacefully negotiate and come to more mutual terms, we were just dismissed. I didn’t expect this in a place like Bangalore,” he shares.
“During Dasara, there was Durga Puja celebrations happening in the society and the loudspeakers were a problem for some of us. We had to call the cops to ask them to reduce the volume. We didn’t mind them playing the music softly but when it comes to bachelors, parties and volume of the music become a problem. It’s unfair to be discriminated against in this manner,” adds Nukul.
Some of the single women being implicated have a different perspective.
A tenant who spoke on the promise of anonymity says that shifting out is harder for women, who choose a society like this for the assurance of safety.
“Some of the bachelors here have created a mess. I’ve seen emails sent by residents complaining about them and I do sympathise because there are days when loud music is played through the night. There was also an incident where someone was beaten up outside the society. It’s just unfair to make it a blanket rule.
We stay here for the safety it provides and it’s not easy moving out after staying here for so long,” says the tenant.
There are also a few tenants who say they haven’t officially received the notice yet.