As India’s Digital Personal Data Protection (DPDP) Act moves into its enforcement stage, housing societies across the country are beginning to actively align with this new data protection framework. The law formally recognises every Individual or Entity that stores and processes Digital Personal Data, as Data Fiduciary. Hence this role applies to Resident Welfare Associations (RWAs) as they must store and process the digital personal data of Owners, Tenants and other Persons that utilize the property.
RWAs collect and process personal data such as name, email id, phone number, house number, vehicle number etc. These are processed on the Official Software of the RWA (e.g.,Mygate, ADDA.io etc.) The data is used for sending official communication such as Maintenance Invoices, AGM Notice, Minutes of Meeting, Lift Downtime etc. The data is also used for digitizing certain Resident services such as concierge, party hall booking, guest invitation, etc.
RWAs are aligning to their role as Data Fiduciary in order to protect the personal Data of Residents as well as limit its processing to Legitimate purposes. The Act also introduces Explicit Consent Management framework in case the Data is to be utilized for purposes outside the legitimate ones.
Not just the RWA, the Act also introduces clearer obligations for community management apps, like ADDA.io, Mygate, Nobrokerhood, who are recognized as Data Processors by the Act. These Apps are required to process resident data strictly as instructed by RWAs and within clearly defined, official society governance purposes, along with explicit and informed consent. Together, these changes have prompted many housing societies to seek clarity early, rather than react after enforcement actions begin.
Responding to this demand for clarity on how the DPDP Act applies in a residential society context, starting January 10, 2026, ADDA.io has been organising weekly online DPDP awareness workshops in collaboration with RWAs and association office bearers. These sessions bring together elected committee members, facility managers and society office bearers to understand consent requirements, purpose limitation, and the respective responsibilities of RWAs as data fiduciaries and community platforms as data processors—topics that are increasingly central to day-to-day society operations.
India has around 3 lakh housing societies, home to over 2–3 crore residents, all of whom depend on RWAs to manage sensitive personal data—ranging from contact details and home addresses to visitor logs, vehicle information and billing records. With penalties under the DPDP Act running as high as ₹250 crore, early awareness is being seen as a practical way to reduce risk, prevent disputes and build trust between residents, RWAs and the technology platforms they rely on.
“This is a proud moment for India. For years, global data protection frameworks like GDPR gave rights to International Citizens for protecting their digital personal data, while India did not have a comprehensive law of its own. The Digital Personal Data Protection Act changes that, and we welcome it wholeheartedly. Our intent through these awareness sessions is to ensure that RWAs and community platforms alike understand the spirit of the law and adopt it responsibly, so that resident data is protected in a transparent and lawful manner. The response to the workshop so far has been phenomenal—each session has seen over 100 RWAs and management committee members attending live every week, representing housing societies from across India. Large federations of RWAs like FOMRRA from Chennai and UFERWAS from Hyderbad have partnered with us to spread awareness among their member RWAs” said San Banerjee, Co-Founder and CEO of ADDA.io.
ADDA.io is an early pioneer in housing society and community management technology in India, working with RWAs and management committees across 90+ Indian cities.
