In today’s digital age, housing apps, security management systems, and approval platforms are transforming residential living by significantly enhancing standards of luxury and security. These innovative technologies offer residents a seamless blend of convenience and sophistication, enabling them to manage their homes with unprecedented ease. Housing apps streamline various aspects of daily life, from maintenance requests and community announcements to bill payments and event management. Security apps bolster safety by integrating advanced features like real-time surveillance, access control, and emergency response coordination. Approval apps facilitate swift and transparent processing of requests, such as visitor approvals and maintenance approvals, ensuring efficient management and timely resolutions. Together, these tools create a cohesive ecosystem that not only simplifies home management but also fosters a secure, luxurious, and well-organized living environment, providing residents with peace of mind and an elevated quality of life.
The housing society management software market has grown significantly in India over the past few years. While it eases a lot of tasks for highrise residents, it at times adds to the trouble owing to premium or hidden charges, or substandard services in the garb of offering freebies. To gain insights into this segment and find out how an alternate model is benefitting residents and AOA or RWA members, we spoke with San Banerjee, the Co-Founder, and CEO of ADDA, India’s first ERP management ecosystem that has gone global. Excerpts from the interview:
How organised is the housing society management market in India as compared to other parts of the world?
The housing society management segment in India is poised to become a $4-billion market by 2030. But as of now, it cannot be termed as being a rather organised and well-managed segment. The biggest concern is that some players in the market bank on offering freebies or allied benefits to secure the mandate for society management. Just like a corporation, an Association is Accountable to the Government for Compliance as per relevant Acts of the state. Lakhs of Rupees are lost in penalties or wrong Taxation by Associations that lack relevant processes and software.
An Association must do everything to minimise losses as well as protect MC members from non-compliance Risks. Therefore, serious Software is the least an Association must avail. Free tools offer very little accountability. We know of several cases, where the unsuspecting Management Committee members have become victims due to lacunas in these tools, the housing societies have lost lakhs of Public Money on Tax/Compliance-related Penalties or Financial Mismanagement/misappropriation. However, awareness in the segment is rising. Many communities have tried these Ad-filled free products, and are now migrating their operations to serious ERP software like ADDA. The need is to focus on creating spam-free and secure ecosystems that address the core needs of the society or community concerned – that is to provide
What makes ADDA different from other players in the segment like Mygate and Nobrokerhood?
ADDA is Ad and Spam Free, and hence Zero Risk for Committee members. With the surge of Cybercrime cases, with Ad Platform Community Apps, there is the risk for Committee members to get entangled in legal cases filed by victim residents. With ADDA there is no such risk. Our only business and focus is the Housing Society Management & Accounting Software. Because of this focus, we are always ahead of the competition when it comes to Product & Support. There are several advanced features in ADDA like AI-enabled Community Helpdesk, Configurable forms with Integrated Payments, Community Guidelines and Violation Tracking, P2P Expense Management Process, etc. Mygate and Nobrokerhood have multiple businesses like advertisement, insurance aggregation, home services, etc, and their focus is most probably distributed.
What led to the idea of ADDA at a time when ERP management systems barely existed?
I have been living in apartment communities since the age of 10. I have traversed housing in cities like Kolkata, Delhi, Chennai, Mumbai, Bangalore, Baton Rouge, Madison, and Chicago. I observed how these residential communities are close-knit and the kind of impact they can have on the residents, the staff, the local businesses as well as the local governance. In fact, we can create a positive impact on the environment as well. Well-run and connected communities bring many positive changes to all these aspects. However, Residential Communities are often inefficiently run disconnected islands due to lack of affordable technology. ADDA was born with the aim to Tech-Enable all such communities and residential societies across the world.
It emerged at a time when ERP administration systems for housing societies were not even a distant possibility. Within a year, we had expanded our network to over 20 cities in India, including significant residential areas such as Mumbai. In 2013, a specific ADDA mobile app for housing society owners/residents was introduced, followed by the introduction of a unique home services marketplace ADDA Discover, and privacy-conscious Gate software ADDA Gatekeeper. ADDA had initially evolved from a basic communication app and today has become a comprehensive ERP management ecosystem. Later, when several native Gate Management systems entered the market for free, ADDA took a major leap and spread its footprint overseas in Dubai and the UAE.
Tell us about some of the unique residential communities in India and abroad managed by ADDA
ADDA boasts a portfolio of marquee clientele, such as DLF, Seawoods Estates, Rustomjee, Oberoi, Prestige, Sobha, Brigade, Embassy Group, AIPL Developers, etc. in India and some of the world’s best property management and Owners Association Management firms like Knight Frank Singapore, Kingfield OAMS, Stratum, The Sustainable City, Pam Golding, overseas. The communities/companies that have partnered with ADDA include the tallest towers in India and Dubai, homes of several celebrities including several members of 2024 World Cup-winning Indian Cricket team, largest senior living homes in India, Highly Privacy Conscious Housing Societies like Residential Communities for IAS, IPS officers, Judiciary, Active Residential Regiments of Armed Forces / Battalions, some of the world’s largest riverside and beachside communities, as well as one of the largest island community that houses the royal family of Saudi Arabia.
What is the net worth/revenue of the company? What are the plans?
ADDA has 2.1 million users across the world. In a year around 1 Lakh Crores of Housing Society Dues related Invoices are raised in ADDA. 120 Crores of Maintenance Dues are paid through our App every month. The Community App powers 4 Crore visitor check-ins in various Communities around the world, around 4,00,000+ neighbourhood conversations, and 20,000+ neighbourhood polls in a year.