[ad_1]
Mumbai: Observing that it is the responsibility of a housing society to protect the interests of all its members and not be selective about whom to support, a District Consumer Commission has ordered a housing society Borivali To pay a compensation of Rs 1.2 lakh to a flat owner after only taking “half-hearted measures” to fix the leakage problem.
Complainant Lourdes Dias alleged that the problem arose due to unauthorized alterations by the owners of four flats in the adjacent wing. The commission said that the society should have taken strict action against those flat owners.
The Commission observed, “The fact that the complainant’s flat was uninhabitable due to leakage and subsequently developed a problem of white ants, we are of the view that it must have caused great mental agony and suffering to him and he is entitled to compensation.” is liable.” The commission also directed the society to take initiative to appoint an expert commissioner to verify the exact source of leakage within two months, for which the fault shall be borne by the flat members and the complainant. The woman currently lives in Goa.
“The complainant is given liberty to repair the leakage in his flat and submit the bill of expenditure to the opposite party – the society – for reimbursement,” Mumbai Suburban District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission said recently.
The commission noted that Ruby Apartments A&B CHS Ltd had not taken any action for such violations by the flat members concerned despite passing a resolution to take action. “Moreover, the money deposited by the concerned flat owners has also been returned despite the original plans being in violation, and no permission has been taken from the concerned authorities. Such inaction and withdrawal from the opposite side – society, in our opinion would amount to deficiency of service,” the commission said.
The commission also noted that the photographs produced by Dias showed that his flat was in a dilapidated condition. “…while we appreciate that the situation may have been partly due to non-occupancy of the flat, it cannot be expected that when such leakage and damage has occurred in his flat The complainant and his family may continue to reside in the same premises,” the commission said.
It further said that writing letters and calling meetings are only half-measures to solve the problems of the dias, when the society was in a position to take more drastic action for the clear violation of the original building plans by the flat owners.
Dias filed the complaint in 2014. He said that in 2008 without the permission of the Society or BMCThe flat owners of the adjacent wing made illegal repairs and alterations to their flats, changed the plumbing, dismantled and changed the position of the kitchen, toilet and bathroom, and placed a 1,000-litre water tank next to the wall, allowing water to flow to their flats. entered the kitchen. and bedroom. He said that his household furnishings, wall plaster, almirahs, wooden items, main door and electric wires were damaged. Dias said that he made several complaints to the society, BMC and even the local corporator. She alleged that there was favoritism by the society because of the close family relationship between one of the members of the society and a flat owner who had allegedly made unauthorized alterations.
The society denied the allegations and also submitted that in a case filed by the BMC against two of the four flat owners for allegedly making illegal alterations, one was acquitted. It also submitted that it had tried to resolve the problems by inviting all the concerned parties but Dias was in no mood to settle the matter. It also said that the leakage problem started around three years after the alleged alterations were made and Dias did not get his flat inspected properly.
[ad_2]
Source link