Heated battles at Indian apartment complexes over fixed wage rates for maids

A Bengaluru apartment complex's attempt to prescribe a fixed wage rate for domestic helpers in November saw obstetrician Krishna G. wage an unexpected battle against her neighbours for almost ruining her "already difficult work-life balance".

- Rohini Mohan

The residential committee of her housing complex of 200 apartments in Bengaluru's Sarjapur locality had sought to peg the wages of domestic helpers at half of what Dr Krishna paid her part-time maid.

"The committee insisted that I pay my maid less, or fire her and get someone new. But for me, my maid of 15 years is irreplaceable. Also, I cannot afford an interruption like that in my life," said the mother of two, whose husband is a senior partner at a law firm.

When Dr Krishna, 50, opposed the proposed rule on the resident association's WhatsApp group, a dozen other neighbours joined her.

"Much of our contention was that the committee had no right to do this, and didn't consult residents who didn't mind paying more," she said.

Dr Krishna's building committee finally backed down. But other apartment complexes across the country are pushing ahead with controversial "wage rate cards" for household chores.

Social media posts in cities as geographically disparate as Bengaluru, Gurgaon, Delhi, Mumbai and Pune indicate that multiple residential complexes across the country are looking to cap the wages paid to domestic helpers.

The plans are facing criticism from domestic workers and some residents, who see the prescribed rates as an attempt to underpay maids.

Domestic workers in cities increasingly depend on apartment complexes for employment.

According to official housing data, more than 52 per cent of people in India's top eight cities lived in apartments in 2018, up from 32 per cent in 2009.

This makes it difficult for domestic workers - many of whom migrate to Indian cities from rural areas in pursuit of a better life - to push back against a forced lower rate in an apartment complex that may house hundreds of families.

The Straits Times saw three such controversial wage rate cards issued in the past four years by apartment complexes in Gurgaon and Bengaluru.