How Fairly Is Your Developer Using The Maintenance Charges?

Home buyers living in housing societies have to pay a regular amount as maintenance charges to enjoy the facilities and amenities offered. Even the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act says that it is the responsibility of buyers to pay these charges as mentioned in the sale agreement. "Every allottee, who has entered into an agreement for sale to take an apartment, plot or building shall be responsible for making necessary payments within the time as specified and shall pay the share of the registration charges, municipal taxes, water and electricity charges, maintenance charges, ground rent, and other charges," reads the Act. Housing societies are, in turn, responsible for record keeping on how the amount received as maintenance charge is being used. 

Housing societies are in turn responsible for record keeping on how has the amount, received as maintenance charge, is being used. The bookkeeping ensures home buyers are not taken advantage of and the housing society spends the money in the right channel.

However, when a recent media report revealed that about 90 per cent of the housing societies under the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) had not audited their accounts in the past three years, it indicated housing societies might be mishandling the money they received from home buyers as maintenance charge across cities. While in the case of government-owned housing societies, it is the responsibility of the governing body to ensure the accounts are audited from time to time, things have so far been a bit tricky in the case of private developers.

One earlier did not have a place to go and complain about the developer in case of any wrongdoings. However, with the arrival of the Real Estate Regulatory Authority, home buyers will have a platform to raise their concerns. Even otherwise, as a home buyer, it is your responsibility to see if the money you have been paying is being used for the reason it is taken from you. You must be in regular touch with the members of the residents' welfare association (RWA) to ensure you live in a well-maintained society. Do remember that an informed home owner can save himself and his fellow residents from falling prey to any frauds.