Residents of Lotus Pond, an Indirapuram society, alleged that the society's AOA was making unnecessary expenditures and collecting unspecified charges from them.
Speaking to City Spidey, SK Mathur, a senior citizen and resident of the society, said the AOA was charging an exorbitant amount for painting the society's common areas while increasing the monthly maintenance fee of the society by 15 paise. Mathur said the AOA, despite being a no-profit-no-loss body, was charging residents for painting common areas, even though it had surplus funds from the charges collected from residents. "They have also refused to construct a shed over my parking lot, despite damage caused to my vehicle from falling debris," said Mathur.
VK Gupta, another senior citizen from the society, said the AOA charged fixed diesel generator (DG) charges of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 from all residents, irrespective of whether they used it or not.
RK Anand, another resident, pointed out that the AOA was offering a 25 per cent discount on the overall painting charges, if the payment was made by June. Anand said the AOA did not have any right to issue discounts and was supposed to conduct work at a nominal rate while using funds from the AOA's savings.
Residents also pointed out that the AOA was making over-the-top expenditures such as buying a new DG for the society, which could be avoided by renting one. Residents said renting a DG would serve the purpose, as the area did not face too many power cuts these days.
City Spidey discussed the issue with the AOA members to shed light on the problems. Referring to the problems as unnecessary trouble, Sanat Tripathi, the AOA's president, said Mathur was trying to cause problems in the society to get back at the AOA. Tripathi alleged that Mathur was barred from using society maintenance staff for personal purposes and making decisions on his own while being part of the society's asset-purchase committee.
Speaking about the fixed DG charges, Tripathi said these were being collected since 2008 and was nothing new. Moreover, he said efforts were being made to revise the tariffs and remove them completely, but that could not be done as most residents opposed the decision. "Against the fixed charges, the AOA provides about 72 free units every month, and although the units are not completely utilised in winter, they are used up in summer," he added. "The regular charges are used for maintenance of DG sets."
Speaking about the 15-paisa increase in the rate of maintenance charges, Tripathi justified the hike from Rs 1.35 per sq ft to 1.50 per sq ft, saying that payment for all services provided in the society increases at a rate of 10 per cent every year.
Speaking about the issue with residents contributing to the common-area painting, Tripathi explained that the 25 per cent discount was introduced because it was the amount borne by the AOA from its own funds, which was equally deducted from the charges to be paid by residents. Tripathi said 266 out of the 309 flats of the society had already initiated payments for the painting. Those who hadn't included residents who were abroad, had rented out flats and those who did not want to pay up.
"I had to refuse Mathur's request to construct a shed, as all other residents would start raising similar demands, which would, in turn, effect the look and design of the society. A few months back, we had proposed that senior citizens sort out their issues with the AOA, but received no response. We have issued another reminder on February 18 but are yet to receive a response," said Tripathi.
