Housing societies under RTI Umbrella

The following article was published in The Times of India, Mumbai Edition on 17^th September 2011, and is copied here for the information of readers of the blog:

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SEEK RELIEF

You can use the RTI Act to seek information from the society, says J B PATEL

There are some ways to obtain the desired information from the managing committee. 

FILE RTI APPLICATION TO DEPUTY REGISTRAR:     

Co-operative housing societies are not directly under the Right to Information Act 2005 (RTI Act).     But they are indirectly covered, through the office of the Deputy Registrar, as per section 2 (F), which entitles you to "information relating to any private body which can be accessed by a public authority under any other law for the time being in force". This is an indirect way of obtaining information from a society. Make an RTI application to the Dy Registrar of the ward in the format prescribed under Maharashtra RTI Rules "Annexure A" with Rs 10/- court fee stamp or Indian Postal Order. You can also download readymade RTI Application Format from the official website.

The Deputy Registrar has to provide the information after getting it from your society, using his powers U/S 77 and 78 of the MCS Act (to which RTI Sec 2(f) refers as "any other law for the time being in force."). Quite often, in response to the RTI application, the registrar or deputy registrar will issue notices to the managing committee, threatening stern action if they do not provide information. A copy of this notice will be endorsed to you. Sometimes, this notice will have the desired effect, and you will get the information. If the information is not provided within 30 days, invoke two legal mechanisms by filing a complaint with the Dy Registrar, say on the 35th day after the order. 

Invoke the mechanism of first apellate authority under RTI Act Sec 19(1). Invoke Section 148A - i.e. contempt of co-operative courts, which says, "(1) If any person - (a) when ordered by a Co-operative Court or the Co-operative Appellate Court to produce or deliver up any document or to furnish information, being legally bound so to do, intentionally, omits to do so, he shall, on conviction, be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to six months, or with fine which may extend to one thousand rupees, or with both." 

IF THE ABOVE REMEDIES FAIL, FILE A CONSUMER COMPLAINT 

As a consumer of services provided by a co-operative housing society, you are covered by the Consumer Protection Act in matters concerning the "business" of the society. Failure to give you necessary documents is a "deficiency in service", and so you may approach theconsumer court and pray for reliefs i.e. copies of documents, and compensation for difficulties suffered by you.
    

The first step is to serve a notice under section 164 of MCS act 1960. Sec 164 says, "No suit shall be instituted against a society, or any of its officers, in respect of any act touching the business of
the society, until the expiration of two months next after notice in writing has been delivered to the Registrar or left at his office, stating the cause of action, the name, description and place of residence of the plaintiff and the relief which he claims, and the plaint shall contain a statement that such notice has been so delivered or left." With luck, this notice may itself subdue the managing committee, causing them to give you the necessary documents. In case this does not happen, proceed with litigation in the consumer court. Don't engage an expensive lawyer. If you have time and knowledge, appear as partyin-person and argue your own case. This will be an economical and effective solution, and also a learning experience. Download a readymade format of complaint before the consumer court from the internet. 

KEY POINTS:

The consumer court is not a forum for resolving disputes. Therefore, don't mention personal disputes. Your complaint must highlight various deficiencies of service, and negligence in rendering service, with documentary proofs for each allegation. Build up such documentation beforehand. Your case will be strong only if you establish that you wrote various letters, applications etc. requesting the managing committee by all lawful means to render you the legitimate services.

Your case must be about the “business” of co-operative housing societies. The scope of a housing society's business is determined by the MCS Act, rules and the registered bye-laws. It broadly covers membership and share transfer, maintenance and service charges, issues relating to proper conduct of general body and managing committee meeting, accounts and audit parameters, proper maintenance of building, providing a good living environment for all members, proper management and caution towards society funds such as repair funds and sinking funds, due diligence in case of engaging various contractors e.g. lift maintenance, civil works, repairs, and also building redevelopers, project management consultants, etc. As you are paying money towards monthly maintenance dues, sinking fund, repair fund, etc, you are a consumer who is aggrieved by the managing committee's negligence in rendering services or deficiency in services rendered.

    Serve notice and allow sufficient time (15 days) to correct the deficiency. As per the provisions of the Consumer Act, we need to serve notice for the "deficiency of service" on the housing society and give them adequate time to correct the deficiency. Consumer Protection Act is not concerned with other laws. It is applicable "notwithstanding anything in any other laws", which includes the MCS Act (section 164 or whatever). It is "over and above" all laws of the country as long as the law is appropriately invoked by aconsumer within the limitation of time i.e. within 24 months from the date of grievance arising. 

    This is an "additional remedy" and not "alternative remedy". You may file for your grievances in the co-operative court as well as consumer court, and the orders of both will have to be honoured independently. Other court decisions / rulings are not binding on theconsumer court. The proceedings under a case in the consumer court cannot be stopped, even if a similar or same matter is pending before another court. 

    Only an aggrieved party has the right to file a consumer complaint. As against this, subject to certain parameters, a third party may petition the deputy registrar / cooperative court, to initiate suo moto proceedings for violations of MCS Act. 

The case is against the housing society, and not against individuals. In both consumer court and cooperative court, complaints and cases may be filed against the CHS. You cannot target individual managing committee members, as you would do in criminal proceedings. 

Also as a last resort, you may file FIR or private complaint with magistrate against individual member of the managing committee. Even if you have initiated proceedings in cooperative court and consumer court, you may also initiate proceedings in criminal courts, if you have documentary evidence of nefarious activities such as misappropriation of funds, forgery of society records, duplicate share certificates, letting out the society property for mobile towers, advertisement hoardings etc. without the written consent of 75% members, rigged and manipulated elections, forged and backdated M-20 indemnity bonds, refusal to transfer membership based on caste, creed, religion, assaulting members. This can be done without any permission / sanction from the registrar of cooperative housing societies, because it is against individuals, and not against the society. 

QUICK BYTE
CO-OPERATIVE HOUSING SOCIETIES ARE NOT DIRECTLY UNDER THE RIGHT TO INFORMATION ACT 2005 BUT THEY ARE INDIRECTLY COVERED, THROUGH THE OFFICE OF THE DEPUTY REGISTRAR The author is an activist for CHS related matters. This article is continued from last week

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Elevator Etiquette

Quoted below is an article which appeared in Times of India Mumbai on 10^th September 2011. Very well written article mocking at the elevator etiquette. Read on to find out if you are one of these species of Liftosaur:

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ARE YOU A LIFTOSAUR?

Have you ever entered a lift and wished you’d taken the stairs because the person sharing the cramped space with you is breaking every rule in the book? Chances are you have, unless that obnoxious rule-allergic liftosaurus is you. So, is there really a book of elevator etiquette? Well, it’s not a leather-bound tome, but rather an unsaid understanding. So what are these rules that we love to break? Here’s a TOI analysis, with some help from Asterix

Rowdynomics 

We often treat the lift as Metro compartment, rushing to get in even before the individuals standing inside can come out. Believe it or not folks, that lift will come back, unless it has a date with a hot female lift. If you can’t find space inside the metal contraption, try letting the ones inside come out. There’s a word for this process. It is called cooperation.

Doormatix 

Some fellow citizens use the lift door for their daily entertainment. Whenever they see a friendly face rushing towards the door, they immediately press the door-close button instead of holding it open. As the door closes, they even flash a grin at the hapless fellow, as if to say: “Take the next one chum”.

Lethargix 

Is your weight more than your IQ? If yes, consider skipping the lift altogether. Read this slowly — S T A I R S. Not only will the exercise help you burn some calories, it will also be safer for others who use the lift. Have you heard of shock absorbers in cars? Well, I don’t think lifts have them. If you’re the slim-shady variety, then using the lift for just one floor is still not advisable. It is just one floor people. How lazy can you get?

Mobileantix 

The word ‘loud’ is abhorred by the liftocracy. So, if you have loud voices, loud mobile ringtones and a loud personality, we have got two words for you: Zip it. In a silent lift filled with strangers, a sudden outburst of ‘Munni badnam hui’ is not really welcome. And we don’t want to hear the dirty talk from your girlfriend on the other e end either.

Upstandix 

When you enter a lift, how do you stand, where do you look, what do you do? For a start, move away from the door. It kinda stops it from closing. When you enter, most of the folks inside will have their faces towards the door. These folks are sane.  If you stand facing them, you are not. Do not stare. Not even if Pamela Anderson and Katrina Kaif are in the lift. Look down as if you are guilty about something. Eye contact is an excellent conversational tool but in a lift it amounts to staring. If you wanted to stare, you should’ve taken the ‘stare case’. And unless you like being squashed together like passengers in a DTC bus, give the others some breathing space.

Dogmatterix 

There are lots of other do’s and don’ts. These include preventing your pet from taking a leak inside the lift. The same goes for you. It’s a lift, not WikiLeaks. If you have a dog or a bicycle to transport, it’s better to wait for an empty lift rather than inconvenience others. If there’s a mirror in the lift, do not use it to check the number of hair in your nose. That’s just cheeky. And lastly, no naughty PDA. Get a room people…one with windows.    (For more stories, log on to timescrest.com)

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"Chabi" of water woes

We have always been flabbergasted and left scratching our heads trying to figure out where the hell all that water goes which gets filled up in Mumbai’s lakes during monsoon season and which is a major source of water supply to this mega metropolis.  Many times I heard residents wondering why we need to requisition so many water tankers to meet potable water demand of residents even during the season of bountiful monsoon season. Few days back in Mumbai edition of Times Of India we found the “chabi” (Key) of water woes. Below reproduced article from Times of India tries to give an insight about the function of “Chabiwalla Mafia”. Corruption and Harrassment galore!

Why doesn’t the government just hands over the management of municipal functions to private sector? Read on the article and feel disgusted at the state of affairs.

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‘Chabiwalla’ mafia behind city’s dry taps

Sharad Vyas TIMES NEWS NETWORK 

Mumbai: Abountiful monsoon and brimming lakes do not necessarily guarantee an average Mumbaikar an uninterrupted supply of water. That power, in reality, lies with an unseen band of ground-level civic workers called chabiwallas, who, it now appears, have been exploiting their position to extort money from citizens besides diverting water to industries for monetary gains. Three chabiwallas were caught red-handed by the Anti-Corruption Bureau last month as they demanded a Rs 40,000 bribe from residents of Powai’s Sun City Complex to fix the water pressure that the
trio had deliberately reduced. An ACB investigation later found that “a complete pipeline had been tweaked to divert water to five big industrial groups”. “We have sought log records and duty registers of chabiwallas in the eastern suburbs from the BMC. After studying some of the documents seized, it seems that this nexus is spread across the city,” said a senior ACB officer.
MONEY IS THE KEY•

Chabiwallas are civic employees in charge of valves that regulate water supply on smaller pipelines

• As in a regular tap, the pressure of water one gets depends on how much these valves are turned

• Chabiwallas have been found lowering the water pressure and, at times, shutting the supply to cash-rich housing societies to extort money

• Occasionally, they even direct water meant for residential buildings to industries and commercial establishments for pecuniary gains Bribes help turn water taps on Civic Employees Are Extorting Money From Citizens By Choking Their Water Supply Though at the bottom of the official hierarchy, the Brih a n m u m b a i Municipal Corporation’s 450 chabiwallas enjoy a powerful position. Working in shifts, they have the job of opening the valves on smaller pipelines at different hours of the day to regulate the supply of water across the city. To carry out their task, chabiwallas get help from a team of sluicemen and labourers. The more the valve is turned open, the higher the water pressure a neighbourhood receives. If the recent flow of complaints about the chabiwalla mafia is anything to go by, the civic workers often lower the water pressure on purpose and, at times, even shut the supply to arm-twist citizens into paying up. A housing society in Kandivli, for instance, suddenly found its supply decrease before a private function. When asked to correct the supply, a group of chabiwallas demanded Rs 25,000. “It was not as if we were wasting water. This was a private affair. The only way out of the jam was to pay up,” said a resident on the condition of anonymity. In another instance, a housing society in Lokhandwala found its supply terminated at the usual supply hours. The resident’s investigation revealed that the society’s “security guard, chabiwallas and tanker owners had colluded to terminate the supply so that they could share the money we paid for water tankers,” said a resident of the society.

In Kalina, an elderly woman last month paid Rs 25,000 to an “unknown BMC worker” to fix her water connection and maintain regular supply. She later found that the work was never carried out. “When she came complaining to me, it was too late. The worker had disappeared after taking her money,” said Kalina resident and activist Crompton Texeira, who has been fighting a lone battle against the water mafia in the area.

In parts of Malad like Dayabhai Patel Road, Daftary Road and Link Road, chabiwallas extorting money from housing societies is routine. “The problem is that the valve junctions here are located at a considerable distance from each other, making it difficult for us to monitor the movements of chabiwallas,” said Malad resident Navin Pandya.

Meanwhile, the call centres there are said to enjoy a free run. Local MLA Yogesh Sagar has been demanding a report from the BMC on the amount of water supplied to office buildings and call centres in Malad but to no avail. “When I monitored the pipelines to call centres, I found that excess water was being diverted to them round-theclock,” he told TOI. 

The only way to quash the mafia, BMC officials suggest, is to install an electronic system to regulate the water supply along the 4,000-km network. The system includes flow meters and actuators, timer-based devices that automatically open and shut valves.

“They (chabiwallas) are unofficially running the show,” admitted a deputy municipal commissioner from the eastern suburbs. Besides housing societies, their primary target is “hotels, industries and shops,” the officer added.

A BEND IN THE SYSTEM

 
The city draws 3,470million litres of water a day from six lakes Before being provided to the public, the water is flown into two major treatment plants using a portion of the city’s 4,000km-long pipeline network It is then directed to 24 major reservoirs located across the city From there, it is distributed equally among 113 zones at different hours The distribution system, especially at the fag end and in hilly areas, is controlled by chabiwallas. These BMC employees are in charge of valves on smaller pipelines that regulate the water supply.

 

Who Are Chabiwallas?
Civic employees, their job is to open the valves on smaller pipelines at different hours of the day to regulate water supply across the city.

                                                                

Arm-Twisting
As in a tap, the pressure of water one gets depends on how much these valves are turned. Chabiwallas lower the water pressure and, at times, shut the supply to societies on purpose.

                                                             

Money Flow 

In return for correcting the water supply, chabiwallas extort money from societies and building residents Chabiwallas have been known to extort money from residents of big slums and chawls, particularly in the eastern suburbs, during festive seasons. The attendant crisis is, many a time, diffused by the local corporator after claiming his or her share of the pie. For chabiwallas, hotels, industries and call centres are a major source of money. They regularly increase the water pressure to these establishments and, at least on one occasion, have diverted the water meant for other areas by modifying the network.