Maitainace costs in Flats

Maintenance charges cannot be fixed on the basis of area of the flat as the large flat holders do not draw more benefits or facilities by virtue of the big size of the flats.  Whatever common amentities are there for small flat holders the same hold good for large flat holders.

One judgment is attached where a resolution passed by the society  fixing the charges on the basis of size of the flats was quashed.

In some societies they are having commercial premises. Society cannot charge any higher or additional maintenance on account of being a holder of commercial premises.  Society charges/ maintenance for commercial premises can only be charged at the same rate as charged for the residential premises.

Hi every one of the panelist,

I have a question similar to the one asked by shri Ramchandran. Can society ask for different maintenance charges from the(1)  owner and (2) Tenant?

Bhasker Parikh

Bhaskarbhai! Society can ask both owner and tenant to pay the maintenance expenses legally.

Now I come to main discussion. It is the mutual understanding among the residents of the society to bear the charges eiher as per size of the flat or on falt rates. It is true that no maintenance chang=rges can legally be charged on the sixe of the flat in view of the ab=forementioned citation.

Mr. Bhaskar, if your question is relating to the quantum of maintenance the society is entitled to charge NO-OCCUPANCY CHARGES if the premises is occupied by tenant. Exemption is granted only to the members of the family, including a married daughter and grand children.

With due respect Raj Sir, I think that there cannot be any agreement which is against the law, it may be with mutual understanding. It is settled law that any contract being contrary to law and contrary to the public policy is not enforceable in law.

Mr.Raj and Mr.Sanjeev Kuchhal,

Firstly I thank u for yr reply.However let me clarify that by asking

"Can society ask for different maintenance charges from the(1)  owner and (2) Tenant?"

I did not mean that society is asking maintenance charges  from both, Landlord/owner and Tenant but I meant that can the   maintenance charge be Rs.X amount to the landlord/owner of the flat and 1.5 or 2.0 times Rs.X to the tenant? for the aminity provided by the society.

Thanks in anticipation to have your further views.

Society is entitled to recover non-occupancy charges from the members who do not occupy the premises by themselves. Non occupation charges would mean charges for not personally occupying the premises i.e. either keeping the premises unused or locket or letting out or giving on license the premises. However the societies cannot be allowed to impose exorbitantly high non-occupancy charges and use the authority under the bye-laws a vehicle for making money. It is not the business of the societies to impose taxes and derive profits by the different modes like the non-occupancy charges etc. Claim for the non-occupancy charges can be restricted to certain limit, as fixed under the circulars issued by the competent authorities.

No distinction is found between owner and tenant in the act so charges cannot be diferent.

See in flat of 1200 Sq.ft and above it has 3  attached bath rooms and if the resident is rich he put a bath tub  and add sinks and wash basins. But a flat owner with a single bed room has one bath and one sink and wash basin. More over the consumption of water may be more in big flats were there may be  more occupants. How will you justify this?

Thats not the measure to compare the consumption. There may be examples where in one big flat only 2-3 persons staying whereas in small falts 8-10 people are staying. This is not a hypothetical situation but there are the facts generally seen in Mumbai life. In a small 1 BHK flat we had seen 14 people staying.

Besides that consumption of water constitutes a negligible amount in the maintenance.  Before charging higher rate it has to be justified what extra amenities are provided to big flat  owners for which they have to pay extra amount.

The main features of maintenance charges are the common amenities like lift, security, common electricity, cleanliness etc. Do the big flat owners get extra security or a separate lift. Whatever common amenities are enjoyed by small flat holders the same are available to others.