Landmark Ruling Shakes Up Apartment Maintenance Norms
In a decision with far-reaching consequences for residential complexes across India, a Bengaluru court has delivered a groundbreaking verdict that prohibits apartment owners' associations from imposing higher maintenance charges on residents of larger flats based solely on the size of their homes. The XL Additional City Civil & Sessions Court declared this controversial billing model illegal, marking a significant victory for housing society members.
The Case That Challenged Unfair Billing Practices
The legal battle began when 61-year-old Arun Kumar Rao, a resident of Purva Seasons in CV Raman Nagar, filed a lawsuit against his apartment association. The dispute centered around a hybrid maintenance framework implemented during a virtual extraordinary general body meeting on July 25, 2020. This new model, which the Purva Seasons Owners Association adopted, linked more than 74% of maintenance charges to super built-up areas, while distributing the remaining 25.9% equally among all 660 units in the complex.
Rao argued that this system placed an unfair financial burden on owners of larger apartments, despite all residents using common facilities such as lifts, clubhouse, security services, and other shared amenities equally. He emphasized that during the builder Puravankara Ltd's management, each flat paid approximately Rs 20,000 per year from an advance maintenance fund with a 15% management fee, without any area-based discrimination.
Legal and Procedural Flaws Exposed
The plaintiff raised multiple concerns about the association's decision-making process. Rao highlighted significant transparency issues, including inconsistencies in meeting notices and discrepancies in area calculations. He pointed out that the association cited a built-up area of 10,82,299 square feet, while the official bye-laws documented only 8,32,453 square feet – a discrepancy that artificially increased the common area percentage to around 43% and affected cost calculations.
Furthermore, Rao challenged the validity of the virtual EGBM itself, noting that the association's bye-laws permitted only physical meetings. The association failed to produce any documentation showing approval from the registrar to conduct a digital session for such important decisions. Additional concerns included problems with the voting software, which couldn't properly record multiple votes for owners possessing more than one unit.
Court's Verdict and Immediate Consequences
After examining all evidence, Judge Veena N delivered the decisive November 20 order, ruling that the July 2020 decision suffered from both legal and procedural deficiencies. The court observed that "all services are enjoyed by all members equally irrespective of the size of their flats", making an area-based maintenance levy fundamentally unreasonable.
The judgment struck down all invoices issued under the hybrid model from May to December 2020 and directed the association to calculate maintenance charges on an equal per-flat basis. The court also permanently restrained the association from amending bye-laws to introduce any area-linked billing model and prohibited them from disconnecting essential services to residents.
This ruling establishes a crucial precedent for apartment complexes throughout India, reinforcing the principle that common area expenses must be shared equally among all residents, regardless of their flat size. The decision emphasizes that transparency and proper procedure must govern all association decisions affecting residents' financial obligations.
