A housing society collects a fee from homeowners on a monthly basis for the upkeep of the society. A well-maintained project helps in providing an excellent living experience for homeowners and tenants and the property value goes up owing to this factor. In this guide, we will discuss in detail the society maintenance charges to be paid in Maharashtra, how it is calculated, and if all housing units in a housing society have to pay uniform society charges irrespective of the configuration of the house they live in.
What are society maintenance charges in Maharashtra?
The society maintenance charges are the monthly fees that a property owner has to pay for maintaining common areas and amenities of a building complex. For instance, the maintenance charges are used to maintain the structure of the building, keeping the property clean, safe and secure and maintaining common areas and amenities. These charges are applicable under Model Bye-Laws of Cooperative Housing Society. The various types of society maintenance charges include:
- Service charges
- Parking charges
- Non-occupancy charges
- Sinking fund
- Insurance charges for the housing complex
- Rent charges
- Miscellaneous charges
Note that irrespective of the occupancy of the property, a homeowner has to pay the maintenance fees.
Role of Model Bye Laws in society maintenance charges
The Model Bye Laws define the framework on how to charge, collect and use the maintenance fees.
- Charges determined: These are determined based on the flat, its sqft.
- When are the society maintenance charges paid? These are paid, monthly, quarterly, half-yearly or annually.
- Utilised for: These are used for maintaining the common lobby areas, paying the salary of the staff, utilities, repairs and admin cost.
- Revisions: There are procedures to revise the society maintenance charges, generally requiring a committee decision or member approval, generally requiring a committee decision or member approval.
What is the Maharashtra Cooperative Societies Act, 1960?
The Maharashtra Cooperative Societies Act, 1960 is a law under which the establishment, registration and functioning of cooperative societies are governed. The Model Bye-Laws mentioned under the Maharashtra Cooperative Societies Act help in managing and the administration of the registered projects.
What is Maharashtra Apartment Ownership Act, 1970?
The Maharashtra Apartment Ownership Act is an act to provide for the ownership of an individual apartment in a building and to make such an apartment inheritable and transferable property.
Maharashtra Apartment Ownership Act vs Maharashtra Cooperative Societies Act: Quick facts
| Maharashtra Apartment Ownership Act (MAOA), 1970 | Maharashtra Cooperative Societies Act, 1960 |
| Have ownership of their housing unit and common areas of property in proportion to their UDS. Thus, these are co-owners of the entire property — greater, the apartment size, larger the undivided share. This dual ownership protects the apartment ownership rights in Maharashtra. The owners have legal recourse in case of disputes. | Have ownership of their housing unit and equal access to common areas. The common areas include land, common walls, the lobbies, lifts, staircases, clubhouse amenities etc. and use of these are governed by the Model Bye-Laws. |
| Thus, society maintenance is charged on the basis of the size of the apartment. | Thus, society maintenance is equally charged across all units. |
What are the areas that command maintenance charges in a housing society?
| Areas that form the maintenance charges | Description |
| Housekeeping | Cleaning of the common areas such as lobbies, staircase, collecting dry and wet waste, windows and other amenities in the complex. |
| Security | This will involve taking care of the security of the housing society. |
| Utilities | This includes the water, electricity etc. used |
| Amenities Upkeep | Swimming pool, gym, Club house maintenance |
| Repairs and maintenance | This involves fixing and upkeep of all the equipment in the housing society. For instance, a gated community has an OWC, a STP etc. that is mandatory and have to be maintained. |
| Administrative costs | Salaries of the people working with the society, office and legal expenses |
| Festival charges | Expenses for national festivals |
How are the society maintenance charges calculated in Maharashtra?
While colloquially flat and apartments are interchanged and used while talking about a housing unit, both have distinct definitions that list them under the Maharashtra Co-operative Societies Act, 1960 and the Maharashtra Apartment Ownership Act, 1970. This difference has an impact on how the maintenance charges in a housing society are calculated.
Two ways in which the society maintenance charges are calculated:
| Governed under | Calculation of maintenance charges |
| Maharashtra Cooperative Societies Act, 1960 | Maintenance charged as per housing unit |
| Maharashtra Apartment Ownership Act (MAOA), 1970 | Maintenance charged as per area of the housing unit in a property |
Bombay High Court Judgement highlights on maintenance charges
| Point | Explanation |
| Maintenance as per housing unit | Under this, the maintenance is charged equally among all the housing units in a cooperative society.
Court case: Trader World Premises Cooperative Housing Society located in Lower Parel |
| Maintenance as per sqft | According to Section 10 of the Maharashtra Apartment Ownership Act, 1970, the larger the share of property, the more voting power the owner has and thus, he is responsible for paying more maintenance.
Court case: Treasure Park, a residential complex in Pune |
| Mandatory payment of the maintenance charges | According to the ruling, a person staying in the society and enjoying the facilities cannot evade payment of his share of the maintenance.
Court case: Giri Chhaya Cooperative Housing Society |
Maintenance charged as per area of the housing unit
Under the Maharashtra Apartment Ownership Act, 1970, the maintenance is charged according to the carpet area of the housing unit. Thus, the maintenance charges vary among housing units in a housing society complex.
Case in point
Treasure Park, a residential complex in Pune has 356 flats spread across 11 buildings. According to a resolution passed by the managing committee of the condominium in 2022, all apartment owners were to be charged equal monthly society maintenance. The owners of smaller apartments challenged this resolution, citing that the law stated that maintenance costs will be calculated on the basis of the owner’s undivided share of the common areas that depended on the apartment’s size owned and challenged this resolution. After investigation, the deputy registrar of co-operative societies agreed with the smaller apartment owners and reversed the managing committee’s resolution and ordered charging society maintenance charges as per the size of the apartment. The owners of larger flats filed a case with the Pune Co-operative Court which dismissed their case. They then moved the Bombay High Court. Justice Milind Jadhav dismissed the petition highlighting that according to the law and the condominium’s declaration documents, the maintenance of the housing society would depend on the size of the apartment. This is because the larger flats have larger undivided interest in common areas. According to Ramesh Prabhu, chairman, Maharashtra Society Welfare Association, “According to Section 10 of the Maharashtra Apartment Ownership Act, 1970, the larger the share of property, the more voting power the owner has and thus, he is responsible to pay more maintenance. This cannot be modified and the ruling that has been passed by the Bombay High Court is in line with the Act. Homeowners who have their properties registered under the Maharashtra Co-operative Societies Act, 1960 should not get confused with this as in this each owner has equal ownership of the property and so service charges are equally divided by number of flats/ units.”
A GR dated April 20, 2000 was released to enforce this.
Maintenance charged per housing unit
The co-operative housing societies are governed by Maharashtra Cooperative Societies Act, 1960. Under this the maintenance is charged equally among all the housing units in a cooperative society.
Case in point
Trader World Premises Cooperative Housing Society located in Lower Parel, Mumbai was issued a restraining order after it was investigated that the managing committee was charging the maintenance fees on the basis of per square foot basis and not on the basis of per unit basis. Termed as illegal, this was a violation of Section 79 of the Maharashtra Co-operative Societies Act. Since the affected party was using the same facilities, like security, utilities, infrastructure etc. like rest of the members in the co-operative housing society, she was not liable to pay the maintenance charges on a per sqft basis.
How are the clubhouse charges for properties governed by Maharashtra Cooperative Societies Act calculated?
Clubhouse in modern-day properties include amenities such as tennis, squash and badminton courts, gym, banquet hall, mini-theatre, amphitheatre, cafeteria, swimming pool, Jacuzzi, children play park, joggers’ track etc. These come under common area maintenance charges “The club house charges to be collected depends on what is the end use of collection. If the charges are collected as service charges for regular maintenance, AMC and upkeepment, salary, etc., the same will be forming part of service charges and therefore it has to be on unit basis. However, club house charges collected for major repairs, renovation and capital expenditure, like purchase of new equipment, etc. being part of land and building, will be charged on square feet basis,” said Prabhu.
Can ad-hoc committee enforce policies regarding maintenance collection?
Santosh Shukla like many other homeowners was unclear about the Bombay High Court ruling and was worried about its impact. “Even after two years of receiving OC, the builder has not formed the society and an adhoc committee is jointly managing the activities with the builder. Currently, the adhoc committee is charging per square feet against each flat for common electricity bill which includes passage lights, electricity for lift and other utilities, housekeeping as well as security charges. A flat owner with 400 sqft is also paying monthly maintenance of Rs 12 per sqft, and similarly, a flat owner of 1,050 sqft is paying Rs 12 per sqft. Now, based upon the new judgement by Bombay High Court that bigger flat areas will have to pay more maintenance charges, the adhoc society is planning to further penalise bigger flat areas. Is it right?” asked Shukla.
“The Ad-hoc Committee is only a temporary arrangement for basic services and maintenance collection. It has no statutory powers to enforce policies, charge penalties, or make financial decisions without the consent of flat owners. Only a duly registered cooperative society under the Maharashtra Cooperative Societies Act, or an association under the Maharashtra Apartment Ownership Act, can exercise binding authority. Till then, all decisions must be transparent and consensual. I would like to clarify that the recent Bombay High Court rulings regarding maintenance charges under the Maharashtra Apartment Ownership Act, 1970 (MAOA) only reaffirm the principle that charges can be levied in proportion to the carpet area, since each flat owner’s share in the common areas is based on the area they own. However, these rulings do not authorise any adhoc committee or builder to impose additional penalties or discriminatory rates on owners of larger flats. In your case, where the builder has still not formed a cooperative society despite the lapse of two years since receipt of Occupation Certificate (OC), the adhoc committee has no statutory power to take unilateral financial decisions beyond what is mutually agreed upon. Currently, since all flat owners are already paying Rs 12 per sqft, the maintenance model is already proportional and in line with legal expectations. Any further hike or differential charging specifically targeting larger flats would be arbitrary, illegal, and liable to be challenged. It’s essential that all financial decisions be taken transparently, with the consent of the majority, and ideally after formation of a legally registered society,” says advocate Neelam Mayuresh Pawar.
What is the payment frequency for maintenance?
| Frequency of payment | Description | Benefits |
| Monthly | Most preferred — have to be paid every month | This is manageable and is a steady cash flow. As this is recurring cost, one must budget it in their monthly accounts. |
| Quarterly | Has to be paid every three months | This can be planned and the frequency can be maintained. |
| Half-yearly | Has to be paid twice a year | This is paying six months of maintenance charges at the same time. Helps in day-to- day functioning of the society in a smooth way. |
| Annually | Lump sum amount once a year | With the amount collected at the beginning, the society will have money for its functioning and new initiatives. However, this may affect people with limited income, who may struggle to pay it annually. |
Can an owner not pay the maintenance charge?
A person staying in a flat in a co-operative housing society and using services such as water supply, security and cleaning etc. has to pay his share of maintenance, even if he or she is not the original owner.
Case in point
A recent Bombay High Court ruling in a case filed by Giri Chhaya Cooperative Housing Society challenging a January 2023 order of the Cooperative Appellate Court. According to HT, the society had filed a case against Prakash Laliwala, the legal heir of Sushila Laliwala who died in 1992. Prakash occupied the flat after his mother’s death, enjoyed the common facilities in the society, but did not pay the maintenance charges despite the society issuing invoices and requests. The society had to recover arrears from 2009 to 2015. Justice Amit Borkar stated that a person staying in the society and enjoying the facilities cannot evade payment of his share of the maintenance. The court ordered Prakash Laliwala to pay the Rs 12.25 lakh along with 9% interest from the respective dates of default. It also highlighted that the society could continue recovering regular maintenance charges as per the Model Bye-Laws.
How to convert the society registration from Maharashtra Apartment Ownership Act, 1970 to Maharashtra Co-operative Societies Act, 1960?
To change the model from a co-partnership mode to a co-ownership mode, a majority is required. “Over 51% of residents of a housing project registered under the Maharashtra Apartment Ownership Act, 1970 should come together and remove the registration by filing an instrument and then register the housing project under Maharashtra Co-operative Societies Act, 1960,” added Prabhu. Once done this way, the society maintenance for each unit in the housing society will be the same, as mentioned in bye-laws under the Maharashtra Co-operative Societies Act.
Housing.com POV
The first step for homeowners to know about how the society maintenance will be calculated is to know under which Act the society is registered- Maharashtra Apartment Ownership Act, 1970 (MAOA) or Maharashtra Co-operative Societies Act, 1960. This will determine if the amount will be divided per-unit-wise or per sqft as the maintenance charges that one has to pay. While in the former, voting rights correspond to undivided share, the latter ensures you that all owners have equal say and ownership when it comes to common areas. Note that payment of society maintenance is a recurring charge that is mandatory for all property owners as this money is used in the upkeep of the society. In case of a default, owners may have to pay penalties and interest on the maintenance charges.
| Got any questions or point of view on our article? We would love to hear from you. Write to our Editor-in-Chief Jhumur Ghosh at jhumur.ghosh1@housing.com |
