April 15, 2024: The Delhi Development Authority (DDA) has decided to hand over the maintenance work of common areas for all new residential projects under its Diwali Special Housing Scheme 2023 to the Residents’ Welfare Associations (RWAs) within a year of possession of the flats, according to media reports. The move aims to ensure the timely maintenance of DDA flats. The decision has been made according to the Real Estate Regulatory Authority’s guidelines.
Till now, the authority has collected a lump sum maintenance charge during the allotment process and maintained common facilities such as lifts, lights in the common area and green cover for around 10-20 years.
The DDA created an escrow account and maintained the common area services from the interest amount. From now on, it will hand over the maintenance amount balance and the responsibilities to the RWA once it is formed, similar to private builders, officials said, as cited in a Hindustan Times report.
“The demand-cum-allotment letter will include the upfront payment as corpus fund and monthly maintenance charge for one year. DDA will undertake day-to-day maintenance from the amount collected for one year or formation of RWA, whichever is earlier. In case the RWA is formed before the completion of one year, the balance maintenance fund will be transferred to the RWA registered with DDA. The fund becomes operative from the date the first demand-cum-allotment letter is issued,” according to the policy document for the scheme that started in 2023, the report mentioned.
The terms also mention that only one RWA will be formed in every pocket and all allottees will have to mandatorily be part of the RWA. This has been a mandatory clause in all of DDA’s housing schemes so far. DDA has developed 2,093 flats of different sizes in Dwarka and Lok Nayakpuram under the Diwali 2023 scheme.
The maintenance charges were calculated after taking suggestions from consultants based on prevalent rates by other builders, which is around Rs 2-3 per square foot/month. According to the scheme brochure, the charges will be Rs 2 for MIG flats, Rs 2.5 for HIG flats and Rs 3 for super HIG flats and penthouses, as per officials.
The authority clarified that the term ‘maintenance’ includes maintenance of green areas, cleanliness of campus, colony, housing pocket; replacement of light fittings in common areas; maintenance and operation of lifts; and payment of electricity bill for common areas, as per a TOI report.
According to the brochure, for common areas which are there in several housing pockets, the responsibility will be with the urban body, after it is transferred to them. And until such time that the area is handed over to the urban body, maintenance will remain with DDA.
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Harini is a content management professional with over 12 years of experience. She has contributed articles for various domains, including real estate, finance, health and travel insurance and e-governance. She has in-depth experience in writing well-researched articles on property trends, infrastructure, taxation, real estate projects and related topics. A Bachelor of Science with Honours in Physics, Harini prefers reading motivational books and keeping abreast of the latest developments in the real estate sector.
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