The Allahabad High Court has quashed notices issued to the RG Residency Apartment Owners Association over the disconnection of electricity to residents who allegedly paid their power dues but withheld maintenance charges, strengthening the association’s position in a long-running dispute over apartment services and billing in Noida’s housing societies.
The case arose at RG Residency, where electricity is supplied through a single-point connection. The society receives the main supply and distributes power to individual flats. According to the association’s submissions, residents’ electricity consumption and maintenance payments are managed through a combined software-based account system. When residents recharge their accounts, the system adjusts the amount against power consumption and maintenance charges.
The association told the court that some residents were paying only for electricity while refusing to pay maintenance charges. It said this affected the society’s ability to fund common services, including security, cleaning, lifts, common-area electricity and other routine operations. The association subsequently disconnected the electricity supply of some residents who had allegedly failed to clear their maintenance dues.
The affected residents complained to the electricity supply authorities. Following those complaints, the power utility issued notices directing the association to restore the electricity connections. The dispute also involved demands from some residents to shift from the existing single-point arrangement to individual or multipoint electricity connections.
The RG Residency Apartment Owners Association challenged the notices before the Allahabad High Court. The matter was heard by a division bench comprising Justice Arindam Sinha and Justice Satyaveer Singh. The association was represented by advocates Rishi Kant Rai and Shashank Shekhar Rai.
The court cancelled the electricity supply company’s notices dated 8 April and 13 April. It also directed that recovery of the disputed dues would not be made from the petitioner association and disposed of the petition. The report does not indicate that the court issued a general direction covering every housing society or every dispute involving maintenance recovery and electricity supply.
The association described the judgment as a significant relief for the society and for residents who pay their maintenance charges regularly. Former association secretary Avinash Arun said the billing arrangement at RG Residency was being operated transparently, while alleging that some residents were using the society’s facilities after paying their electricity bills but withholding maintenance payments.
The dispute reflects a recurring administrative problem in apartment complexes that use common electricity infrastructure. Maintenance charges pay for services that are shared across a housing society, while electricity payments can be tracked separately or through a common account. When the two obligations are combined in one recharge or billing system, disagreements over disconnection, recovery and the authority of apartment associations can directly affect essential household services.
The association also alleged that Paschimanchal Vidyut Vitran Nigam Limited was pressing societies to move from single-point to multipoint connections. The ruling settles the notices challenged by RG Residency, while the practical effect of the judgment on other societies will depend on the facts and legal arrangements in each case. The next step identified in the proceedings is the implementation of the court’s decision cancelling the notices and ending the petition.
