Noida's Emerald Court society has issued notices to tenants who are single to vacate their premises, citing violation of its rules.

The residential body of the posh society in Sector 93A, where the twin towers once stood, said they had been getting complaints from other residents because of which notices have been issued to those living as paying guests (PGs) and it has been”done in the interest of harmonious community living and we have no intention of any moral policing.”

The notice, issued on November 15, stated a rule of society's bye-law which stipulates that it is”prohibited to use flats as paying guest accommodation, guest house or rented to a group of students/bachelors where the residency of the flat is of transient nature.”

 All tenants must have police verification certificate and approval of the Emerald Court Residents Welfare Association (RWA), the notice further said. “Serious concern has been expressed by local authorities on the possibility of objectionable activities in some of these flats and Emerald Court RWA has been asked to provide details to the local authorities. In view of the sensitivity of the matter, we have managed the issue with the assurance that these types of accommodations will not be operating within Emerald Court from January 1, 2023,” the notice stated.

“We are hereby informing the owners of these flats to give notice to the students/bachelors/guest house managers and get the flats vacated within 30 days from today. From January 1, 2023 we will not permit these PG accommodations and guest houses to operate from our premises,” it stated. 

Uday Bhan Singh Teotia, president, Emerald Court RWA, said the rule cited in the notice is not a new one and the RWA was getting complaints related to administration of the society by other residents. “This notice is to check violation of society rules. We have not asked anyone to vacate overnight but have given due time of two to three months. The notice was issued in November,” Teotia told PTI.

He said some cases have come to the fore in which rent agreement of an apartment is made in the name of one person but that flat is further sub-let to five, six, or even seven girls.

“All this cannot be allowed,” added Teotia, who had spearheaded the residents' fight against developer Supertech Ltd which led to the Supreme Court ordering demolition of the twin towers built illegally in the society's premises.

According to local tenants, bachelors often face problems finding apartments or independent house on rent in the city adjoining the national Capital.

“People outright deny giving their apartment to bachelors on rent. This often leaves bachelors with the only option to go through brokers, who charge a lot of money,” said Kala Trivedi (26), who earlier lived in a society in Noida Sector 46 but has now moved to South Delhi.

“We were two girls living in the apartment and at the time of vacating it, my landlord told us that he will never again rent it out to unmarried women. All this even when there was no damage to his property or any complaint about us from other residents in the society,” the engineering professional claimed. Rajiva Singh, president, Noida Federation of Apartment Owners Associations (NOFAA), said there cannot be any discriminatory rules and regulations based on caste, creed, geographies or marital status of a resident in a community living.

“In case any resident — whether an owner, a tenant or a bachelor — is not following the defined society rules and guidelines as per the model by-laws, they need to be treated at par and corrective measures taken accordingly. Bachelors and youths are part of our community and need to be mentored in case they are cause of inconvenience for others. They are part of our responsibility, we cannot shun our responsibilities as welfare bodies,” he said. However, he noted that every society resident needs to be disciplined enough as not to cause any inconvenience to fellow residents and activities risking people's security should be avoided.

“Any commercial activity like PG, with frequent changes in tenants, which can be a threat to the security of a society, has to be avoided. Proper police verifications are needed for all such tenants and PGs for the safety of societies,” Singh said.