Your Housing Problems & Solutions

Commercial Unit

Q: A member of society made additions and alterations in his residential flat and converted it into a commercial unit. Society approached BMC and officials confirmed in writing that the flat is used for commercial purpose and charged property tax on that particular unit on commercial basis. Now after a new managing committee took over:

(1)The member has been favoured by issuing a NOC by the new managing committee to reconvert the unit into residential one, without consent from other members of the society; (2)He has approached BMC to reconvert

the flat into residential unit. (3)He is not prepared to pay the additional property tax charged on commercial use of the flat. (4)How can the amount be recovered? (5)As the property tax is levied by BMC on Society how the Society can make payment to the BMC.

(6)Will the other members be compelled to pay the additional tax levied on commercial unit? The Registrar is aware of this matter.

For the last 15 years like electricity bill, Municipality is sending individual flat property tax bill once in six months, if asked for individual flatwise property tax bill by building's Co-operative Housing Society (CHS). If your CHS has not availed this facility, then call a special general body meeting of your CHS and pass a resolution by majority, for flatwise property bill of Municipal Property Tax. With that resolution, write to Property Tax Department of your Municipal ward office to issue property tax bill flatwise to your society's building. Even when common property tax bill of the society is sent, flatwise breakup for net figure is given in the bill received by the society. If individual flat property bill breakup is not shown by the municipality, then society can ask flatwise break up of each flat's property tax bill, soon after it has receive its half-yearly property tax bill. Property Tax Department of Municipality will give it within two days of receiving your application for flatwise breakup of Property Tax bill. In that break up of Property Tax bill, one ground floor flat's bill will be shown as commercial bill, amount of which you can recover from the concerned flat owner. Said flat owner has on his own converted his flat from residential to commercial and now he is reconverting it from commercial to residential. So long as Municipality is not completing its formality of reconversion, it will recover commercial municipal tax bill from that flat. If that flat owner refuses to pay Municipal Tax bill of his flat, as asked by the Municipality, then you can get the recovery order from Deputy Registrar of Co-operative Societies of your area, under Section 101 of Maharashtra Co-operative Societies Act, 1960.

No Access

I live in a SRA building. The managing committee at AGM passed a resolution to lock the terrace door and now no one has access. Except while dish TV or other work. I would like to practice yoga on my terrace but they refuse to give me keys saying that we are not giving any member keys for other purposes. But then as a member I am deprived of using common place like terrace, we don't have any other space in the building. And they managing committee is adamant. We have a welfare room but that is given on rent. Children's are left with no option but to play in the passage of each floor. Can I succeed in getting permission for using terrace?

For giving the balwadi flat of your SRA building on rent and not allowing the members to use the terrace by the Co-operative Housing Society's (CHS) Managing Committee (MC), you can make complaint at three places as follows. Not allowing the balwadi area to the children of SRA building and renting it out, is violation of Bye-law No.169 and not allowing to use the terrace is violation of Bye-law No. 170.

Society's members can seek relief under Bye-law No. 174(D)(i) by making a complaint to SRA's building plan department office, for misusing society's space; or under Byelaw No 174(E)(i) by making a complaint to local Police station, for unauthorise use of society's space or premises; and/or under Bye-law No. 174(F) (iv) for not allowing the authenticated use of the available open space of the society, complain against the managing committee to General Body meeting of the Society.

Of all the three places, if you are persuasive, then SRA's building plan department will definitely take an action against the society. Even if you are persuasive, and if police is not interested in taking any action, then they will say that is a civil matter and are not interested in taking part in it. Similarly, when matter is taken to General Body Meeting, no member will show any interest in taking action against the Managing Committee of the Society, thus it defeats the purpose.

Since the building plan is approved by the SRA's building plan department, and it is the responsibility of it to see to it that the use of space in the building is done for the purpose for which is it meant for, building plan department of SRA will definitely take an action against your society for misusing the Balwadi room and not allowing the members to use building's terrace.

In this respect, after you make a complaint to the office stated above, if no action is taken, then with xerox copy of your complaint, please come to Moneylife Foundation Office on Tuesday for free of charge advise from the expert, between 4pm and 7pm, after you fix your appointment with expert, also on Tuesday, between 11am and 3pm on Tel (022) 4920 5000.