Residents of affordable project protest against ‘arbitrary’ maintenance fee

Residents of ROF Aalayas, an affording housing project in Sector 102, held a protest on Sunday morning alleging that the developer has set the maintenance fee at

Residents of ROF Aalayas, an affording housing project in Sector 102, held a protest on Sunday morning alleging that the developer has set the maintenance fee at a high rate without any prior notice to them. The protesting residents said that, since the residential project was developed under the affordable housing policy of the Haryana government, the developers are supposed to maintain the project free of cost for the 5 years. As such, they cannot be asked to pay the fees during that period. They also said that a complaint in this regard has already been made at the CM Window and the matter has been brought into the notice of the town and country planning department (DTCP).

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Dhirendra Pratap Singh, a resident of the society said that the maintenance agency of the developer started deducting maintenance fee from their pre-paid electricity account without informing them. “We have asked the developer to clarify their action and explain as to why maintenance charges are being taken from the money paid for the electricity,” he said. The residents also said that they have not received the receipts for the maintenance fee being deducted from them.

The residents said that maintenance of ₹2.75 is being charged from them and it has been fixed arbitrarily. The electricity charges are also high at ₹7.10. This too is wrong, claim the residents, adding that consumers should pay the rate fixed by the DHBVN.

Another resident said that the developer should be transparent about maintenance charges and explain everything clearly. “The owners of affordable houses were promised by the government free maintenance and it is clear in the policy as well,” he added.

When asked about the matter, an official of the DTCP said that they have sought more clarity from the headquarters in Chandigarh regarding the payment of maintenance fees in affordable projects. “There will be more clarity on this soon,” he said.

A spokesperson of the developer, however, said that they are charging only nominal maintenance fees, which are allowed under government rules. “There are expenditure on security, electricity, horticulture which have to be borne by the residents. There is no rule that states that residents will pay no maintenance fees. Still we are ready to discuss everything with residents and resolve the matter,” he said.