Common issues the apartment office-bearers face and possible solution for it

Apartment office bearers or management committee are assigned to do various tasks as per the resident welfare association and most of their work is in the direction of proving a better living space for all concerned. But often they are facing the heat with various administrative and financial issues. There are some common problems faced by many office bearers across the country. Here is a list of some of the common problems and their possible solutions to make their life harmonious with the residents.

Collecting Maintenance Expenses

Irrespective of the location, collection of monthly maintenance expenses continues to top the list of the problems faced by office bearers. Even though everyone knows that the basic purpose of such maintenance expenses is to keep some money to cater for repair and replacement of common areas and facilities along with administrative work, many residents don’t give their maintenance fee on time.

Solution: The use of technology for having an online payment system has been used by many housing societies successfully in the recent past. This system removes the embarrassment of office bearers to repeatedly seek monthly funds from defaulters. If the residents don’t pay within the stipulated time limit, the online system would add late fees automatically.

Calculating Maintenance Charges

Another area of concern common is the lack of clarity amongst residents relating to the actual calculation of the maintenance charges. While some societies have a fixed maintenance charge, others obtain maintenance charges as per the square feet owned by the residents. If someone feels that he/she being the owner of a smaller apartment, but is forced to pay the same sum as the owner of a large sized apartment, it leads to doubts over the whole concept.

Solution: There are two ways to calculate maintenance charges. One is to have a flat charge for every resident irrespective of the size of the property owned. The second method is to calculate the maintenance charges based on the carpet area of the property owned by the resident. In case where majority of flats are of similar size, having a blanket maintenance charge would suffice. If there are different denominations of flats, having an area centric calculation is a better option. Office bearers must make sure that there is adequate transparency when deciding the norms and a conclusion is reached after proper consensus to avoid any dispute.

Office Bearer Behavior

Some office bearers behave in an argumentative or intimidating manner making the whole relation between them and residents tainted. Though the personality of each person differs, some changes of character need to be made while maintaining a position.

Solution: Apartment managing committee or office-bearers account for everything the organisation does, including its spending and activities. Office bearers need to realize that any housing society is based on the idea of having collective interest of all residents. If any resident has any apparent grievance, or if there is a complaint against any one, it should be addressed peacefully and patiently.

Parking Space

The use of parking area can be an area of concern between residents and the office bearers. Most resident grievances of parking area are because of wrong parking from other members and their guests.

Solution: Formulation of rules and regulations for monitoring of parking and provide adequate parking facilities. The RWA can finalize the guidelines demarking parking areas for each resident and common guest parking areas. Anyone floating the rules must be fined irrespective of the person involved. The security officer can be entrusted with ensuring the same round the clock.

Residents not Satisfied with Explanations

A common concern of every resident member is dissatisfaction of additional expenses collected like periodical maintenance, painting etc for which office bearers are answerable and avoid unwanted disputes.

Solution: Office bearers need to realize that there must a transparency in place when it comes to using the funds for maintenance and repair. An opinion poll can be conducted before starting such works which would rule out unwanted disputes.