Hello
I am a member of a registered CHS in Mumbai for the last 10 years. Recently I bought a new car and requested the society, in writing, to allot me a parking spot. Since, I did not get a response from the managing committee; I temporarily parked my car in a place where no other cars are parked.
Do note that the place in which I parked was such that it did not cause any inconvenience or impeded anyone’s passage. The Managing Committee (MC) called me for a discussion on the issue and said that I cannot park in that spot. No plausible reason was offered for refusing permission to park in that spot except that it has never been allowed up until now. I tried to reason with them that may be in the past there were alternate places where members could have parked, but as the number of cars into the society has grown, they need to optimize utilization of space for parking. Just because something was not done in the past does not mean we cannot do it now as long as it does not inconvenience anyone. The reasoning obviously did not bear any fruit, it seems a few other members were eyeing that spot due to its convenient location and the MC had refused them permission to park their second car in that spot but gave them an alternate place to park. In fact, it got to such a level that someone threw dal on my car the other day.
The MC, however, was adamant and allotted me a me a parking spot behind one of the other buildings. I parked my car there but soon realized that there was a coconut tree (with coconuts) right above as well as being a shaded area there was a lot of bird droppings that would fall on the car. The MC obviously knew about this as previously another car had got damaged due to a coconut which is probably why that space was available in the first place. And despite knowing this fact, the MC forced me to park my car there.
Not wanting to create a scene, I parked in that spot for a few weeks but the bird dropping nuisance just got unbearable. There would be droppings on the car minutes after being washed. Not only is it embarrassing but there is a lot of damage the uric acid from bird droppings can cause to a car’s paint.
I again represented my case to the society, in writing, requesting an alternate spot and parked the car in the earlier place where I was parking. But again the MC was unwilling to budge from their stand. I brought the following points to their notice
1. There are defaulters of the society who get to park their cars in the compound
2. There are many people who have more than two cars parked for year now
3. There are a few members who have a parking slot even though they do not own a car
4. There are a few who have a parking slot even though their flat in the society is not their primary residence (they come once in two weeks or so)
5. There are tenants of members who get to park their vehicles inside the compound.
I made the following representation to the MC .. the parking area of the society is a common utility privilege meant to equally benefit all the society members .. How can members who have never utilized the facility be inconvenienced in favor of those who continue to derive a larger benefit out of a common utility? It is also not fair that those who have parked their cars in the society for the longest should get the most preferred parking slots hence the parking slots for the first car should be assigned by drawing lots on an annual basis and any excess spots should be auctioned to those who want to park more than one car.
The MC response was that they cannot ask members who have parked their second cars for years to move / remove their cars now because they have been paying the Rs 200 parking charges, I argued that paying parking charges does not give any one ownership over the spots as none of us purchased parking from the builder. The MC stuck to its stand and said that they will have the coconuts removed and I need to adjust on the bird droppings issue by getting a car cover. I again explained to them that it is just not practical to remove / put on a car cover each day and the cover itself causes more damage to the paint while removing / putting on. I even offered to exchange the spot they were insisting I park in with someone in the managing committee, in case they felt that I was being unreasonable.
The MC just would not listen and insisted that I park my car in that same spot. I conveyed to them clearly that the society cannot expect me to knowingly park in a place which will cause damage to my property especially when there is ample parking space elsewhere in the compound. I again started parking my car in the earlier spot and this time round, the MC put up a notice announcing a fine of Rs 250 per day.
My queries are
- Is the MC justified in forcing me to park in a spot which will cause damage to my car?
- Is the MC justified in not allowing parking in a spot which does not inconvenience anyone or impedes anyone’s passage / access just because no one has been allowed to park there earlier?
- Can the MC levy such a fine for parking in a non-designated spot?
- Is the MC justified in suppressing the rights of members bringing in their first car in favor of
- Members having more than one car
- Members having a parking spot but no car
- Members having a parking spot but not permanently residing in the society
- Tenants
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