In Pune, a housing federation helps societies tackle chronic defaulters

Payment of maintenance charges was one of the fundamental duties of society members, said Suhas Patwardhan, chairman of the federation. Without timely payment of these charges, no society can function as it is the primary source of income for them, he added.

The federation has organised a series of special programmes and camps across the district in April and May to help societies recover unpaid society dues. (File)

The Pune District Cooperative Housing Federation is on a mission this summer: to help societies tackle the problem of chronic defaulters. Accordingly, the federation has organised a series of special programmes and camps across the district in April and May to help societies recover unpaid society dues.

The federation is the apex body of cooperative housing societies in the district.

Payment of maintenance charges was one of the fundamental duties of society members, said Suhas Patwardhan, chairman of the federation. Without timely payment of these charges, no society can function as it is the primary source of income for them, he added. “We have seen almost 99 per cent of the members are regular with their payment but some areou chronic defaulters,” he said.

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Most housing societies do not have the legal know-how to tackle this problem. That is where the federation steps in. “In most cases, the default is due to personal issues. In such cases, we advise people to sort the issue but pay the maintenance on time,” Patwardhan pointed out. In case of chronic defaulters, the federation has two recovery officers, who under the guidance of the deputy district registrars, help in recovering the pending dues.

So far, the federation has held eight such workshops in Pashan, Pimple Saudagar, Sahakar Nagar and other areas to help societies tackle the problem. On May 1, the federation will open its second office in the Chikali area of Pimpri Chinchwad.

Parthasarathi Biswas

Partha Sarathi Biwas is an Assistant Editor with The Indian Express with 10+ years of experience in reporting on Agriculture, Commodities and Developmental issues. He has been with The Indian Express since 2011 and earlier worked with DNA. Partha's report about Farmers Producer Companies (FPC) as well long pieces on various agricultural issues have been cited by various academic publications including those published by the Government of India. He is often invited as a visiting faculty to various schools of journalism to talk about development journalism and rural reporting. In his spare time Partha trains for marathons and has participated in multiple marathons and half marathons. ... Read More

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