If housing societies were found misusing the funds collected from residents of the society towards the maintenance, disciplinary action would be inevitable against them. In a latest case, the Maharashtra state consumer commission has held four housing society office bearers guilty of deficiency in service, in addition to the housing society itself, and directed them to individually pay a compensation of Rs 50,000, for failing to provide relief to a flat member whose repeated pleas to fix a leakage problem caused due to rainwater fell on deaf ears. “This commission is also of the opinion that the office bearers of the cooperative housing society during whose tenure, in spite of receiving complaints in writing from the member, no proper steps were taken to redress the complaints of members.
Hence, in addition to the cooperative housing society, the office bearers are also responsible for not taking a decision and giving relief to the member by providing deficient service,” stated the Maharashtra State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission. The housing society, Swati Srishti CHS Ltd, too, has been ordered to pay a compensation of Rs 2.25 lakh for causing mental agony along with around Rs 91,000 (with interest) towards the repairs.
One of the flat owners in the society Nandkumar Shetty urged the society to undertake repairs to plug leakage in his flat and to repair the ceiling in the bathroom. But the society office-bearers turned a deaf ear to his pleas for repairs. He was forced to approach the consumer forum, which dismissed the case. Therefore, he approached the Maharashtra State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission.
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