Some ideas to ensure you get the maintenance dues

Some ideas to ensure you get the maintenance dues

Collecting maintenance dues is a real nightmare. Because no matter how much you try, some people just forget it every month, and some simply despise the idea of paying their dues.

Firstly, let us accept that this ain’t a utopian world where people are prompt and love to pay off their dues. But, the question is, how do you remind them to pay for the community services they avail, and what measures do you take if they refuse to loosen their wallets?

Every month, each one of us clears off payments for a list of utilities like electricity, telephone, credit card and so on. One way to remind people to pay maintenance bills is to send them sms or email alerts in advance.

If a resident fails to pay his maintenance bill surpassing the due date also, Even after reminders, you may give a written notice of 12 days extra to make the payment, and then a grace period of 3 days.

If the resident is a willful defaulter, you can pass a resolution in the committee meeting of the society and send a legal notice in consultation with an advocate. As a penalty, an interest of 12% per annum may be charged on the default amount from the due date to the payment date.

The committee may decide to withdraw facilities like tanker-water, or generator power supplied during a power-cut to penalize the defaulter and re-connection should be permitted only upon clearance of outstanding payments.   ◾

Remember, these are only ideas that can be explored by residential societies to push people for on time payment of maintenance bills and not bylaws. It is advisable to check with a legal expert before implementation of these ideas.

Nonetheless, when you set your society’s by-laws, make sure you add a clause on measures that would be taken in case a resident consistently defaults on paying the maintenance that he is liable to pay.