------------------------------------------------------ Do GOACAN a favour, circulate this email to your family members, relatives, neighbours and friends. Help other CONSUMERS to be better informed. ----------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------- Flat Owners meeting in Vasco calls for unity and moots legislation to protect their interest ----------------------------------------------------- At a meeting recently held in Vasco as part of the GOACAN Flat Owners Consumer Rights Awareness Campaign, Flat Owners of Mormugao were unanimous in their opinion that unity of Flat Owners is the need of the hour, that the Registrar of Co-operative Socities must play a pro-active role in defense of the Rights of the Flat Owners and that Government needs to put in place a legislation to protect the interest of the Flat Owners in Goa.
The meeting began with a welcome address by Roland Martins, Co-ordinator GOACAN who gave an overview of the purpose and scope of the Awareness Campaign on the Rights of the Flat Owners. He stated that there is a need for a Taluka & State Level Association of Flat Owners so as to protect their Rights as well as to deal with the changing scenarios of the Regional Plan, the Outline Development Plans (ODP’s), Land Development Rules and Taxation by Govt. & local self-governing bodies. He pointed out that working towards a Draft legislation having the interest of Flat Owners well represented is an important task before all of us. He also stated that in view of the forthcoming Municipal Elections, Flat Owners, Residents Associations and Housing Societies must see themselves as active participants in making Democracy work at the local level. He assured the gathering that GOACAN and the Civic and Consumer Forums will extend all the support in this very important movement of Flat Owners for their Rights. Mr. Vijay Kapoor, a concerned Flat owner from Zuarinagar made a presentation on general guidelines for Flat Buyers and Owners. The points he covered were things to do before buying a flat, after deciding to buy a flat, after the purchase of a Flat and what to do in case of problems. Mr. Avinash Tulaskar, Chairman of Chowgule Gardens Welfare Association, Zuarinagar gave a brief account of the flat owner’s efforts to unite and put forward their genuine demands to the builder. He further stated that with the spread of the Awareness Campaign of Flat Owner’s Consumer Rights, their own Association has seen positive developments in getting their demands resolved. He informed the gathering that Flat owners in different localities are faced with specific problems from that area which may differ from Taluka to Taluka and cited their own example wherein after occupying their flats they realised that the builder has not yet obtained the NOC from the Civil Aviation Authorities. Dr. Kalpana V Kamat gave a brief description of the issues faced by her family residing in the Nayak Building in Baina such as the non-formation of a Society, non-construction of the Compound Wall, misuse of the open space etc. She stated that her family’s attempt to get these issues resolved has resulted in severe harassment and physical attacks from the builder which has in turn resulted in registering of Police cases. Mr. Kishor B Banaulikar from the Valmik Housing Co-op Society in Baina having 32 flats pointed out that because he has been consistently raising issues with the builder, an attempt was made to cancel his membership from the Housing Society at the time of formation which has resulted in a number of cases before the Asst. Registrar of Co-op Societies, criminal cases and defamation cases. In the case of the building Royal Franco consisting of 17 flats and 4 shops at New Vaddem, Mr. Dashrath V Kubal stated that although the regular payments ere made at the time of purchase of the flat, the builder has been continuously collecting additional payments like service tax etc.The residents have managed to form a residents association. In the case of JAN-CIA Apartments, Vasco which consists of 12 flats and 12 shops, Mr. Maruti Das V Naik informed the gathering that a Society has not yet been formed but the residents have managed to form an Association. Mr. Gajanan V Bawane speaking about the situation of Amerkar Residency at New Vaddem stated that the flat owners over a period of time have taken up issues with the builder in cases before the District Consumer Redressal Forum, the State Commission and presently in the High Court. He stressed that unity of the flat owners is important and stated that their efforts have seen considerable success. In the case of Aristocrat Apartments Co-op Housing Society, Mangor, which consists of 44 flats, Mr. Basilio C R Fernandes stated that the major issue the residents are facing is the question of land transfer to the Society.He further stated that the non- completion of the land transfer to the Society puts the flat owners in great difficulty whilst obtaining loan facilities from the Banks and other financial Institutions. Mr. Sayed Razak of the Cosal Residency of Merces Vaddem which consist of 17 flats stated that the residents have formed an Association however, the major issue confronting the Flat Owners at present is that of payments being demanded by the builder for Parking although at the time of the agreement free parking was to be provided. Mr. Simon Fernandes also from the Aristocrat Apts. Hsg. Society, Mangor narrated the issues with regards to transfer of land to the Society and the role of the Asst. Registrar of the Co-op Society. He stated that builders give an undertaking to the Registrar that they will facilitate the smooth transfer of the land to the Society however there has been a failure on the part on the Asst. Registrar to make good this undertaking given by builders. He further stated that at a recent Seminar organised the Asst. Registrar of Co-op Society, this issue was debated at length where he pointed out that over 90% of the cases in South Goa faced by Societies is on the issue of land transfer. He also pointed out that the builders lobby and local politicians tend to bring greater pressures on the Asst. Registrars office and this needs to be reversed by the Flat owners also forming their own lobby to get their issue resolved. He cited the example of the Society receiving a show cause notice from the Asst. Registrars office that if the land transfer was not completed he would have to de-register the Society. By using the RTI Act, they were able to prove that this show cause notice was only sent to them and was a clear case of harassment to the Society. Cdr. T.R. Anantha Narayanan (Retd.) from the Rangvi Estate, Dabolim, pointed out that they do not have an Association of the residents and there are many issue such as the protection and maintenance of open spaces, playing area etc. that need due attention. He spoke at length on the zoning issues and use of the white book and red book by the Planning and Dev. Authority and the TCP when clearing the files for construction. He stated that it is very important for House Owners to understand the intricacies of the various types of rules and guidelines to overcome the bureaucratic red-tapism. Adv Thalmann P Pereira, Chairman of Karma Residential Enclave Owners Association, Vaddem, stated that they have not yet formed the Society but the day to day maintenance issues are being taken care of by the Association but he however raised a pertinent point that there is a need for a legislation to protect the rights of the Flat owners. He further stated that Flat owners have to think of the law in relation to the state of their building and their land 50 years ahead in lieu of the issues that are likely to crop up there by endangering their very investment in these properties. Adv. Pereira also proposed that a drafting committee should be set up forthwith to work on the legislation to protect Flat Owners which was accepted by all present. Mr. Nandan Prabhudessai of the Jairam Complex Residents Association of Mala, Panaji gave a presentation on the steps taken by a few residents to unite all the Flat Owners in the face of the divide and rule tactics adopted by the builder. He emphasised that the non-formation of the Society puts the flat owners perennially at the mercy of the builder and cited an example of when a resident wants to resell his flat, the owner has to depend upon the builder for an NOC for which the builder then uses this opportunity to extract large amounts of money for this purpose. He further stated that for their current agitation to be effective, they had to form a core committee to handle the day to day issues of their agitation. Mr. Higino Rebello, Convenor of the Vasco Civic and Consumer Forum narrated his own case of Right to Access in a Housing Society wherein he was happy to state that they were able to get a judgement to their satisfaction from the National Consumer Redressal Commission in New Delhi. He then stated that the efforts of their Housing Society with the Directorate of Fire and Emergency Services also produced results as the builder had to demolish a section of the building to create the necessary access. He further pointed out that Flat Owners at the Taluka level must examine the various Acts, Rules and Legislations and work for the modification of those sections which are not in the interest of the Rights of the Flat Owners. The meeting ended with a decision that all the participating flat owners will prepare necessary documentation on the issues faced by them in their respective areas so that follow -up meetings can be convened to tackle these issues keeping in mind the need to form the Mormugao Taluka Flat Owners Association. ---------------------------------------------------------- GOA CIVIC AND CONSUMER ACTION NETWORK ---------------------------------------------------------- promoting civic and consumer rights in Goa ---------------------------------------------------------- GOACAN Post Box 187 Margao, Goa 403 601 GOACAN Post Box 78 Mapusa, Goa 403 507 mail: [email protected] Visit: http://goacan.blogspot.com ----------------------------------------------------------
