Can housing societies charge higher maintenance fee for bigger flats? Here's what recent court ruling said

Homeowners in Mumbai may have a reason to challenge maintenance bills that vary based on the size or use of their property. The Maharashtra cooperative court held in a recent ruling that housing societies cannot arbitrarily charge higher maintenance fees to owners of larger flats or commercial units unless there is a solid legal reason for doing so.

The judgment came after a case was filed by unhappy residents of a housing society in Worli, Mumbai, who argued that the society should split the common maintenance charges equally among all members. According to the complaint, the housing society has been calculating these charges based on the size of each flat or shop, with commercial units facing higher fees.

The residents also claimed that the shops on the society's premises were being charged at twice the rate of residential flats. The society was also allegedly charging for water connections even when some residents didn’t have them, prompting aggrieved residents to approach the court, according to a news report by The Economic Times.

Residents' complaints vs society's defence

Apart from objecting to the maintenance and water charges, the residents also raised concerns about the society's condition, alleging that it was poorly managed. They also questioned the process used to award major repair contracts, calling for greater scrutiny of such decisions.

The housing society, however, contested the residents' claim. It argued that some of the residents who approached the court had themselves defaulted on their maintenance payments. While the society acknowledged that the complainants were its members and that it was a registered cooperative housing society, it denied that the billing was illegal or arbitrary, said the news report.

Responding to the concerns regarding maintenance charges levied on shops, the society argued that commercial units are governed by separate rules for allotment, management and maintenance. According to the society, these rules were accepted and signed by the concerned allottees, creating a contractual arrangement between the society and these allottees.

According to ET, the society also denied the allegations relating to water charges and mismanagement. On major repair works, it maintained that the process was transparent, with quotations being invited before contracts were awarded.

Court rules in residents' favour

On 10 August, the court ruled in favour of the aggrieved residents on the maintenance charges issue, holding that the society could not levy different charges without a valid legal basis. However, it rejected the residents’ other allegations and ruled in favour of the housing society on those issues.

Citing previous cases and their judgments, the Maharashtra cooperative court said that in cases where the services and amenities maintained by the society are common and enjoyed by all the members alike, a member holding a larger flat does not, merely for that reason, receive proportionately greater services to justify a higher levy of common maintenance charges.

Another reason that the ruling went in favour of the residents was that the court noted the housing society had not entered the witness box to explain the basis upon which the different maintenance charges were calculated.

Thus, the court held that the housing society’s claim that separate rules governed the allotment, management and maintenance of shops was not substantiated by examining any witness or proving the factual foundation upon which such differential common maintenance is claimed.

Regarding other allegations and grievances raised by the residents, the court said that the claim regarding water charges lacked evidence and that the information provided by the residents was insufficient to prove the allegation. As a result, the affected residents won a partial victory in the Maharashtra cooperative court on the limited issue of a higher maintenance fee, ET reported.