We describe the procedure and paperwork to transfer apartment ownership after you have signed the agreement to buy resale apartments or flats.

Resignation of membership

Form by which the owner seeks permission to give up his membership in society in order to transfer apartment ownership.

Membership application by heir of deceased member

Format of application for society membership by the heir of a deceased member.

Society’s acceptance of transferee’s membership request

How the society accepts membership request of transferee or homebuyer.

Transfer of interest on demise of member

How property transfer to heirs or nominee takes place, in case of death of an apartment owner, with regard to communication between them and the society.

Redressal of complaints

If you have complaints against the housing society’s managing committee with regard to its functioning or decisions, how should you proceed.

Courtesy : www.remela.com

Redevelopment – Are Govt. Guidelines really persuasive and convincing ?

February 19, 2013February 19, 2013 yazdiLeave a comment

ARE GOVT. GUIDELINES REALLY PERSUASIVE AND CONVINCING?

With a view to ensure transparency in Societies seeking to undertake redevelopment projects, the Government of Maharashtra had issued a Circular bearing No. CHS 2007/CR554/14-C, Co-operation, Marketing and Textiles Department Date: 3rd January 2009 this contains a Directive under Section 79 (A) of Maharashtra Co-operative Societies Act 1960 for all the Co-operative Housing Societies in the State of Maharashtra regarding the Redevelopment of Buildings of Co-operative Housing Societies. These guidelines are applicable wherever the buildings of Co-operative Housing Societies in the State of Maharashtra are being redeveloped on a large scale.Read More »

Limit fixed for transfer fee

February 19, 2013 yazdi9 Comments

Limit fixed for transfer fee,
Donation or any other charges not allowed

The law is very clear as to how much transfer fee can be charged in co-operative housing societies on a transfer of flat. The Commissioner for Co-operation and Registrar Co-operative Society, Maharashtra, has issued two circulars, clarifying the matter. The circular contains the table of maximum allowable transfer fee and clearly states that no further amount can be taken as donation. For the clarity and information the circulars are reproduced here in below.
Office of the Commissioner for Co-operation and Registrar, C.S. Maharashtra State, Pune.
Circular No. Grihnirman /Gala Tabdil/FFC/89 dated 27th Nov. 1989.
Sub : To increase the amount of premium to be paid on transfer flats.
There is a provisions in bye-law No. 40 (d) (7) of the new model bye-laws published premium maximum upto Rs. 1000/- to be paid to the society is less as compared to the person, he will have to pay the fee as transfer premium as mentioned below. Necessary amendment to bye-law No. 40 (d) (7) may be made accordingly and then executed by the societies.
2. It is therefore requested to bring to the notice of all co-operative housing societies falling under your jurisdiction, theinstructions contained in the above said circular and accordingly, to give instructions to the societies to make amendments to their bye-laws at appropriate places.

Area under Maximum premium
To be paid
1) Municipal Corporation & Development Authorities Rs. 25,000/-
2) ‘A’ Class Municipalities Rs. 20,000/-
3) ‘B’ Class Municipalities Rs. 15,000/-
4) ‘C’ Class Municipalities Rs. 10,000/-
5) Rural Sector Rs. 5,000/-

Sd/-
For Commissioner for Corporation & Registration C.S., M.S., Pune.

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District consumer forum orders HSBC Bank to pay Rs 25,000 for deficiency in service

February 18, 2013 yazdiLeave a comment

The consumer forum directed the bank to issue a no-dues certificate to Delhi-resident Vinay Chola and to reconsider a fresh card for him. The forum also awarded him compensation of Rs25,000 towards litigation charges and harassment caused to him
The New Delhi District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum has ordered Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation (HSBC) to pay Rs25,000 as compensation to one of its former credit card holders for not getting his name removed from a defaulters list even after he cleared all his dues.

The consumer forum observed that once the card holder paid all the dues, the bank should have closed the accounts and informed the Credit Information Bureau (India) (CIBIL) that nothing was outstanding.

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CERS helps buyer get refund of amount charged illegally as Service Tax by Builder.

February 17, 2013 yazdiLeave a comment

CERS helps buyer get refund of amount charged illegally as Service Tax by Builder.

Ahmedabad, January 23^rd 2013: Exposing fraudulent practice adopted by builder community to fetch extra amount from the buyers, Consumer Education & Research Society (CERS) has won a case against an Ahmedabad based builder, who had illegally charged an amount of Rs. 28,800 on the pretext of service tax in the Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum, Ahmedabad (City). The Forum ordered the builder to pay the complainant the amount charged as service tax with 9% interest along with a compensation of Rs. 5,000 for the mental agony caused and Rs. 2,000 towards litigation costs involved. The amount involved had been collected as service tax from a gullible buyer of a flat on the pretext of providing services in the premises despite the fact that the buyer was not liable to pay it as he was not the owner of the flat when the said service was provided and more importantly, the builder never deposited the amount of service tax to the concerned government department.

As per the case details, Rahul M. Talwaria, resident of Chandkheda area of the city, purchased a flat from Deluxe Purohit Infrastructure Pvt. Ltd. Representatives from Deluxe Purohit Infrastructure Pvt. Ltd collected an amount of Rs. 28,800 on October 2, 2006, from Rahul towards service tax for the flat in question. About two years after paying this as service tax, Rahul came to know that he was not liable to pay the amount of service tax, as the flat was not transferred on his name when the services were provided. Citing this reason, when Rahul asked for the refund of the money, the builder refused bluntly saying the amount had already been deposited to the service tax department.

But when Rahul sought information in this regard from the concerned office under the provision of the RTI act, he realized the builder had never deposited the amount and also the fact that there was no account of the builder in the service tax department.

As a result of this repeated refusal from the builder, Rahul approached CERS and after verifying the facts, they filed a case against the builder in the Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum, Ahmedabad (City).

No representative of the builder attended the hearing of the case and finally the consumer forum gave a ruling in favor of CERS.

For further information please contact Ms Pritee Shah (O) 079-27489945/46

The New Pension Scheme (NPS) – all that you need to know

February 16, 2013 yazdiLeave a comment

You would have heard and read about how the young average age of the Indian population is advantageous for the Indian economy. While there is no doubt about this being true, it is expected that this average will increase in the future leading to a larger population in the 60+ age group making retirement planning more important than it is currently considered in India. According to the latest UNFPA report, the number of Indians above 60 years is expected to rise to 55% by 2050. The longevity of life is also expected to increase with a more active post-retirement life owing to betterment in medical facilities.

This means that tomorrow’s retirees will have a longer retirement life and must therefore accumulate a bigger corpus for their sunset years. The way to ensure this is, good retirement planning.

The New Pension Scheme (NPS) launched by the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) in 2009 is an answer to the 401 (K) retirement scheme in USA. NPS is essentially a Government approved pension scheme for Indian citizens in the 18-60 age group. It is mandatory for central and state government employees to subscribe to this scheme, while it is optional for others. Since being launched in 2009, the scheme has gone through a lot of changes in process of making it more popular. The current features of this scheme are as follows: –

The scheme offers two kinds of accounts namely, Tier I and Tier II accounts. Tier I account is mandatory for a subscriber of the NPS, whereas Tier II account is optional in nature. One can open a Tier II account only if he has a Tier I account. Major difference between the two accounts is that in Tier I account, there are restrictions on withdrawal whereas, a subscriber is free to withdraw money from the Tier II account.

The minimum annual contribution for Tier I account is Rs. 6000, which can be paid at once or in installments of at least Rs. 500. The minimum contribution in Tier II is Rs. 250 per transaction and at the end of a year, the minimum balance in this account should be Rs. 2000 or else the subscriber is liable to pay a fine.

Click Here for the full detailed article, along with Tax Benefits, Norms of Withdrawal, Charges, FAQs, etc.

PARKING CHARGES (Open, Stilt or whatever)

February 16, 2013 yazdiLeave a comment

LEGAL & TECHNICAL INTROSPECTION :

1. WHO OWNS THE CHS PARKING SPACE ?

2. CAN THE MC REFUSE TO ALLOT PARKING SPACES to its members ?

3. WHAT IS THE TYPICAL PARKING CHARGES LEVIED BY CHS ?

4. WHAT IS A “PENALTY” ?

5. RESPONSIBILITY OF PARKING SPACES ?

6. CAN PARKING DEPOSIT BE COLLECTED ?

7. HOW TO ALLOT PARKING SPACES ?

Click Here for all the answers …………

Keep Smiling …. Hemant Agarwal

Electricity Companies transferring burden of inferior coal on consumers

February 15, 2013 yazdiLeave a comment

CERS lodges protest against Electricity Companies transferring burden of inferior coal on consumers

Requests GERC to direct generation companies to claim losses Coal India and other suppliers

Ahmedabad, 1^st February 2013: Consumer Education Research Society (CERS) has lodged a protest before Gujarat Electricity Regulatory Commission (GERC) against power generating companies transferring the financial burden of receiving inferior quality coal on its consumers by charging them illegally. The power generating companies in Gujarat have been receiving inferior quality of coal from Coal India Ltd, which has led to an increase in the requirement of coal from 0.6 kg/kWh to 0.75 kg/kWh (increase of 25%); for which the incurred losses are being offset by charging the electricity consumers of Gujarat. Earlier these power generating companies collected a huge amount from consumers for 6-8% loss of coal in Railway transit (from Coal mines to power plants), which is now restricted to only 0.8% after the implementation of Electricity Act. CERS has requested Hon’ble Commission to direct generation companies to claim losses from Coal India Ltd and other coal suppliers, rather unjustifiably and illegally charging consumers. CERS has stated that power companies resort to this since they find it easier to burden consumers than to recover amount from the coal suppliers.

CERS has made following study to strengthen its case:

Grade of Coal	Gross Calorific Value of Coal in Kcal/kWh	Pithead price of coal in Rs/MT
A	Above 6200	3690
B	5600-6200	2800
C	4940-5600	1450
D	4200-4940	1140
E	3360-4200	880
F	2400-3360	660
G	Up to 2400	480

Normally coal of D and E grade is required to generate electricity in power plants. It is shocking that Gujarat generation companies sign contract to purchase ‘D’ grade of coal and receive E grade coal. This increases the consumption of coal, Thereby increasing cost per unit generation and burdening consumers. The cost of coal increases by Rs. 2000-2500 per Metric Ton due to Railway freight charges, as coal is received in Gujarat from distance of more than 1000-1200 kms.

In recent tariff petition filed by two generating companies of Gujarat they have claimed recovery of huge amount due to receipt of poor & inferior quality of coal which has been opposed by CERS. The state owned power generation company, Gujarat State Electricity Corporation Ltd (GSECL) has claimed recovery of Rs. 160.69 crores from consumers due to its inefficiency and receiving inferior quality of coal compared to contracted grade of coal. Similarly Torrent Power Ltd has claimed a loss of Rs. 62.0 crores from its consumers for getting inferior quality of coal. This increase in fuel cost is recovered by electricity companies through GERC approved formula under Fuel Price & Power Purchase Adjustment Charges (FPPPA). Gujarat is the first to introduce FPPPA formula other States have implemented this formula from 1^st April 2012 , after directives from Appellate Tribunal for Electricity.

CERS states that situation is not different in other state of India where consumers are being burdened due to receipt of short supply of coal and inferior quality of coal. The power generation companies in collaboration with Coal India Ltd exploit consumers with State Electricity Regulatory Commissions being silent spectators.

For more information, please contact Mr K.K.Bajaj on +91-9374103578

79(A) Maharashtra Co-operative Housing Societies Manual – 15.10.2011

February 15, 2013 yazdi1 Comment

Section 79 (A) of the Maharashtra Co-operative Societies Act, 1960.

No. SAGRUYO-2011/PRA.KRA. 360/14-SA, Co operation, Marketing and Textile Department, Date 15th October, 2011

Directive to be given to all co-operative Housing Societies in the Maharashtra State Under section 79 (A) of the Maharashtra Co-operative Societies Act, 1960.
In respect of applying Co-operative Housing Societies Manual

Very important and interesting
Courtesy : J.B.Patel (Jeby), Housing Societies’ Activist!, Mobile:9820538570

79(A) MAHARASHTRA CO-OPERATIVE HOUSING SOCITIES MANNUAL – 15.10.2011

How is Service Tax and Service Charge calculated in Restaurants ?

February 14, 2013 yazdi15 Comments

A typical restaurant bill has the items which you have ordered and their prices. Then there is service charges, service tax and value added tax as well.

“Service charge is not the same as service tax. Service charge is the amount you pay for the service of the establishment and it goes into their pocket,” said Anil Rego, chartered accountant and CEO, Right Horizons, an investment advisory and wealth management firm.

The following example will illustrate the tax calculation.

Total for food items is: Rs 865

Service charge (5%): Rs 43

Sub total: Rs 908

Service tax is 12.36% of 40% of Rs 908.

40 percent of Rs 908 is Rs 363.20

12.36% of Rs 363.20 is Rs 44.89.

So the service tax to be charged is Rs 44.89.

Grand total (after rounding off) = (Sub total + Service tax) = (908 + 44.89) = Rs. 953

The most important thing to remember is that service tax is not charged on VAT. The restaurant might cheat you by charging you a service charge, even when it’s not mentioned in the menu. Or, they might cheat you by charging a service tax which includes VAT as well. Or they might collect a service tax but calling it service charge and cheat you as well as the government.

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