Apartment Maintenance Charges Rules and Regulations
The real estate boom in India has played a crucial role in altering the property ownership pattern of this country. People are now leaning more towards shifting into apartments, especially the housing societies as they are becoming convenient and affordable. While staying in an apartment building has many facilities, you need to pay the maintenance charge to ensure everything runs smoothly. But, before you go ahead, you must be aware of the apartment maintenance charges rules and regulations to know you rights and how you need to deal with this.
What Is An Apartment Maintenance Charge?
Apartment maintenance charge is the fee collected by the residential society for the upkeep of the buildings and complex premises. It covers the maintenances, electricity, services charges, etc. to ensure the best living experience for the residents. Here are some common components of the maintenance charges that you should know about –
Building maintenance
This includes all the repairing work and painting of the buildings.
Common area maintenance
This constitutes the maintenance of areas like corridors, elevators, playground, garden, etc.
Security and surveillance
Costs associated with CCTV, security personnel and other safety measures comes under this category.
Utilities
Paying the electric bill, municipality taxes and water comes under utility expenses.
Housekeeping
Payment for the housekeeping staff who takes care of the hygiene and cleanliness is an important part of maintenance charges.
Administrative expenses
The salary of building maintenance staff and office expenses comes under this category.
Contingency funds
A portion of the maintenance charge goes towards creating a contingency fund to take care of unexpected expenses.
Now, keeping a track of all these different categories of expenses and their payment can be a tough ask. Well, you can now bypass this hassle by opting for NoBrokerHood, a single window platform for all the requirements of a residential society. It takes care of security, communication, utility payment, record keeping and what not to ensure the residents have a great living experience.
Also Check: Society Maintenance Charges
Calculation of Apartment Maintenance Charge
According to the flat maintenance charges law, builders in our country can charge from Rs.2 to Rs.25 per square foot as maintenance charges. Now, these are direct proportionate to the amenities you receive. So, if you pay a higher fee, your will get better facilities and vice versa.
Having said that, here are the three major calculation methods for housing society maintenance charges –
Equal sharing
In this method, the residents of the apartment pays an equal amount for maintenance irrespective of the size of their flat. As a result, the calculation is simple and straightforward, but may not be most equitable.
Per square foot
This is a more customised approach, where residents pay for maintenance charges as per the size of their flats. So, if you own a smaller flat, you will be liable to pay a smaller fee and vice versa.
Hybrid model
The hybrid model adopted by different societies strike a good balance between the previous two. Usually in this methods the fixed maintenance costs are divided equally and the variable ones are as per the square feet.
RERA Rules for Maintenance Charges
According to the RERA apartment maintenance charges rules and regulations the buyer of the property upon the transfer of ownership is required to pay the maintenance charges. However, if the owner of the said property decides to find a tenant, then the tenant will be responsible for paying the maintenance charges.
On the other hand, RERA rules for maintenance charges also states that, before the foundation of the Residents Welfare Association of complex, the builder needs to take care of the maintenance charges.
Apart from these two main pointers, the flat maintenance charges law also outlines a few more regulations –
- As per the RERA Act of 2016, residents are no supposed to pay any ad-hoc cost according to the builder’s discretion.
- The maintenance charges should be disclosed by the builder at the time of booking.
- State governments have maximum and minimum maintenance charges set for societies, and builders cannot ask for more than the amount prescribed by the respective state government.
- The maintenance charges are calculated based on the area of the apartment, so it will vary from one property to another.
- The frequency of the collection of maintenance charges depends on builder.
- In case the maintenance charges exceed Rs.7500 per month, the resident has to pay a GST of 18% on the amount.
- The builder must open a separate bank account for the purpose of collection and utilisation of maintenance charges.
- As per the RERA apartment maintenance charges rules and regulations, builders cannot transfer money from the maintenance account and cannot enjoy the interest earned on it. Also, it should not be a source of income for the builders.
- Moreover, the RERA rules for maintenance charges also states that during the handover of the maintenance account to the RWA, the builder must transfer the balance amount along with the account statement.
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Parting Thoughts
To sum up, the apartment maintenance fee is important for smooth functioning of the residential complex, which also ensure the quality of life for the residents. Therefore, being aware of RERA apartment maintenance charges rules and regulations are important for the residents and management committees work together more effectively, ensuring a fair and transparent system that benefits everyone involved.