News: Suncity RWA can't charge upkeep fee: Gurugram district registrar-08-03-2022
The district registrar further said the RWA, which was registered under the Haryana Registration and Regulation of Societies Act, 2012, doesn’t have the right to collect these charges as the society is a residential plotted colony approved by the department of town and country planning under the Haryana Development and Regulation of Urban Areas Act, 1975.
GURUGR AM: In an order likely to have bearing on other plotted colonies in the city, district registrar of firms and societiesSanjit Kaur on Monday said the residents of Suncity township located on Golf Course Road are not liable to pay charges for common area maintenance (CAM) and value added services (VAS) to the RWA. Kaur has also replaced the enquiry officer and appointed HS Jakhar to probe allegations of irregularities by the previous RWA.
The district registrar further said the RWA, which was registered under the Haryana Registration and Regulation of Societies Act, 2012, doesn’t have the right to collect these charges as the society is a residential plotted colony approved by the department of town and country planning under the Haryana Development and Regulation of Urban Areas Act, 1975.
“Therefore, the provisions of Haryana Apartment Ownership Act, 1983 don’t apply to residents of the colony and they are not liable to file a deed of declaration,” the order stated. In March 2020, the Suncity RWA decided to impose VAS charges for services which are not being covered by the Municipal Corporation of Gurgao (MCG), including security, in-house service providers, cleaning of vacant plots and maintenance of parks, among other services. The decision didn’t go down well with the residents, who filed several complaints to the district registrar, MCG commissioner and even police. “There is no provision in the HRRS Act legally empowering any RWA to collect any amount in the name of CAM or VAS. RWA can charge only membership fee and annual subscription fee,” said Abhey Poonia, one of the complainants. “Around 2,100 families live in the township. Those not paying VAS were continuously harassed by the RWA,” said VMK Singh, another resident. Meanwhile, an RWA member said they will challenge the order. “This order is contradictory to an earlier order. The district registrar should have separated VAS from CAM, since our common area maintenance is with MCG. On the request of residents and as per the bylaws, we provide value added services. VAS is an internal matter and such order is against the essence of society formation and functioning,” said Prashant Sharma, the RWA vicepresident.
