Is It Legal To Turn Down A Bachelor Looking For Rented Accommodation?

If you are a young bachelor and living in any of the big cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Pune, chances are high that you would have faced Apartment Apartheid by now and that too more than once. While Apartheid is used to define the economic discrimination in African countries, India is not very different where several housing societies are segregating on the basis of marital status. Though this is a violation of the basic fundamental right of freedom of living without any discrimination on the basis of class, colour or gender, housing societies care little about the constitution and more about the moral values that their kids might adopt from 'bachelor life'. Here's the first-hand experience of a bunch of bachelors -

Gagan and his two other friends were looking out for a 3BHK flat in Navi Mumbai. While most of the high-end housing societies turned them down despite the fact that they were willing to pay a higher security money, some even remarked that they were immoral youngsters. There were few places where they were asked offending questions-  How many girls do you know?, Will they visit frequently?, Do you get drunk all the time?

Bachelors do fall prey to such character assassination. They finally rented an independent house after all the moral policing.

These are not one-off cases but happens too frequently in cities where young generation flock for jobs. Most of the time, such discrimination goes unreported, hence no legal action is ever taken. Police enquire about the reported cases and no one wants to get into the legal hassle of attending to these cases. Earlier, media reports quoted Pune Police saying that they have been looking into the matters such as religious discrimination. There are many other kinds of discrimination that young men face day to day in Indian cities. 

What have housing societies to say?

Some housing societies are adamant and do not allow bachelors. While most of them have agreed to the fact that not all are of indecent character, they still want to avoid such situations. Some property owners in such complexes are smart. They prefer renting out to families only.  This is also a type of discrimination as well although it may make them feel less guilty of the offence.

As renting out the flat to bachelors fetches better returns, homeowners always find it a profitable deal. Even though landlords are ready, the rules made by housing societies are never challenged. However, the entire responsibility of 'moral conduct' of the tenant lies on the landlord. The security deposits are doubled and are liable to be forfeited if found guilty or involvement in activities which aren't approved by the society.

Here is what Indian Law says-

According to Rohit Singh, senior advocate and a subject matter expert said, “Every housing society adopts by-laws when it gets registered. These bye-laws are rules and regulations which basically helps in governing day-to-day issues of the society. While these rules and regulations are formed under Co-operative Societies Act, it also offers flexibility to societies to form their own rules as per the convenience of all.”

So is it legal for housing societies to frame such rules? Actually no. Anyone who feels that his fundamental right is being violated by any of the rules formed by any society, he/she can file a police complaint. There have been cases when several cases have been reported, fought and won by the tenants. These regulations framed by the societies are not law, hence can be challenged if any individual feels that his rights as a citizen have been infringed.

Also Read: Denied A House? RERA's Clause Could Be A Game Changer