Court restricts RWAs from levying maintenance charges on DDA flats
New Delhi- A Delhi court has made it clear that residents welfare associations (RWAs) managing affairs in colonies built by Delhi Development Authority have no right to impose maintenance charges from residents of those colonies.
The court gave this decision during the judgement of a case, wherein a resident of DDA colony had refused to pay maintenance charges for many years. As the arrears had summed up to around Rs 22,000, the Munirka Enclave RWA president in 2006 filed a civil suit seeking recovery of the arrears.
The president of the RWA claimed that the resident had not been paying the maintenance charges which are being paid by other residents. The resident said that the RWA has no power to apply the provisions of Apartment Ownership Act, 1988 as its provisions are applicable to multi-storied buildings.
Neither the flat was situated in a multi-storied apartment complex nor it was being maintained by DDA and civic bodies for other work. The RWA also admitted that the colony was maintained by Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD).
The court dismissed RWA’s suit and said that any RWA can have power to collect maintenance and other charges from the house owners under two conditions: the first is that the properties for which the RWA has been constituted are a part of multi-storied building complex as the erstwhile Apartment Ownership Act, 1988 provided. And the second condition is that if DDA had not handed over maintenance of the colony constructed by it to MCD for maintenance, the RWAs could collect monthly maintenance charges.
According to the 1988 legislation, a multi-storied building must have four floors. But none of the residential colonies developed by the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) has four floors, clarified the court.
The court deprived the Munirka Enclave RWA from collecting the monthly maintenance charges. It said that once the property has been handed over to the MCD, then the RWA loses its right to collect charges. Only MCD is authoritative to collect tax and other charges from the house owners of the colony.
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Apartment complex, Apartment Ownership Act 1988, DDA, DDA colony flats, Delhi Development Authority, Diamond District Apartment complex, Maintenance charges, MCD, Multi-storied buildings, Municipal Corporation of Delhi, Munirka Enclave RWA, Residents Welfare Associations
