Parking space rates shoot up property prices
Realty prices in top Indian cities have been soaring. In Mumbai, the financial capital of India, one cannot acquire any property below Rs one crore. Even while the Indian real estate is going through dark phases, prices have refused to come down. The burden on home buyers is increased even more by the practice of developers charging exorbitant rates for the parking spaces in apartments across the cities.
With developers charging in the range of Rs 1 lakh to Rs 15 lakh for parking spaces, an average home buyer’s dream of owning a house in the metros seem to go dim. Even when the sizes of flats continue to shrink in cities like Mumbai, car parking charges seem to be constantly go up. Parking facility has been rated as poor in all the mega cities in India and the ridiculously high parking fees have added to the woes of home buyers in India.
Is it legal to charge parking fees?
Home buyers are dumbfounded when they are asked to pay an exorbitant amount as parking charges in apartment, a facility which is deemed by them as an ancillary benefit with the flat. If you think it is unfair to pay a ridiculous amount for parking spaces, you are right to think so. As per the Supreme Court verdict in 2010, developers or promoters cannot sell “open-to-sky” areas or “stilted” (covered) portions of their apartment complexes, usable as parking spaces, as garages.
Parking spaces are a part of ‘common areas’ in an apartment complex and it is so even if the builder leaves it out of advertisement and agreement with the flat purchaser. As per the apex court’s ruling a builder cannot sell any such areas of the flat separately, hence making it illegal for builders to charge for parking spaces.
Parking fee: Home buyer’s woe
Even when there are arguments raised whether the developers can charge parking charges or not, it seems to be a constant part of a property deal in Indian cities. Whether you plan to buy an apartment in Mumbai or in Bangalore or in Delhi NCR, be sure that you would be asked to part with a large sum of money in the form of parking charges.
The problem seems to be at its peak in Mumbai Metropolitan Region, where even in far flung suburbs of Borivli builders charge an mount up to Rs 7-8 lakh for parking fee. In localities like Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC), the amount can be as high as Rs 15 lakh.
What makes it more troublesome for buyers is that they have to pay the parking charges in cash and in almost all the cases, there would be no receipt. If the buyer wants, then the amount can be included in the total value of the flat as per the registered sale document. However, the catch here is that there may be perceptible difference between value and price of an apartment.
The sale deed of an apartment does not link car parking space and the flat in many cases. Sometimes, even after paying for parking spaces, you may not be allotted the specific spot and you would only get hold of the parking spaces after the cooperative society is formed and all the flats are sold.
Allegations have been rife that the money raised through parking space charges is paid as bribes to the government agencies by the builder. Whether or not such allegations are true, one needs to part with his/her hard earned money as parking fees.
