MahaRERA must stop unjust enrichment by builders

Q: It is common knowledge that builders invariably insist on payment of advance maintenance charges for one or two years at the time of giving possession of new flats to buyers.

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This amount, in most cases, runs into a couple of lakhs per homebuyer, and in a project with 100 or more flats, this total collection goes into crores. Many such housing projects are redevelopment projects where cooperative housing societies preexist even before the new buildings are constructed.

Then why should builders demand and collect such huge amounts from homebuyers? Is maintenance of the buildings the responsibility of builders? Are there any provisions in RERA that permit such collections in the name of advance maintenance charges? And even when the project is not a redevelopment project, why should builders be allowed to collect one or two years' advance maintenance? Is the builder not supposed to form the society of buyers within a specified time?

- Professor Alok Hardikar, Vile Parle (West)