The bill arrived as one line: Rs 6.20 a square foot a month, plus interest at 21 percent on anything late. Suresh and Kavita had paid it for two years without reading it closely, because it looked like the kind of number a society simply sets. It is not. A Maharashtra housing society's maintenance bill is a set of separate charges, each with its own lawful basis, and since 30 June 2026 the state's own rules, not only the model bye-laws, govern two of the most disputed ones.
Key takeaways
- A maintenance bill is a set of separate heads, each with its own basis: property tax by each flat's assessment, water charges by its inlets, equal service charges, and fund contributions tied to each flat's construction cost.
- The Maharashtra Co-operative Societies (Amendment) Rules, 2026, in force from 30 June 2026, make the equal split of service charges among flats, regardless of size, a statutory rule; the 2014 model bye-laws already required it.
- The same rules cap interest on overdue dues at 12 percent a year simple, down from the 21 percent ceiling in the model bye-laws most societies had adopted.
- The sinking fund must be at least 0.25 percent and the repair and maintenance fund at least 0.75 percent of each flat's construction cost a year; non-occupancy charges are capped at 10 percent of service charges.
- The rules apply to Maharashtra's roughly 1.27 lakh co-operative housing societies, about 33,200 of them in Mumbai; revised model bye-laws were in draft, with objections closing on 27 August 2026.
Suresh and Kavita read the bill
Suresh and Kavita (illustrative, as our stories always are) live in their retirement flat in Pune, a 1,050 square foot 2BHK in a society of 64 flats. When a hospital stay made them late with one quarter's maintenance, the next bill carried interest at 21 percent a year, and a neighbour in a 650 square foot flat mentioned that her bill was about three-fifths of theirs on every head, including the watchman's salary. Names and numbers in this story are illustrative.
Two questions followed. Was a single per-square-foot rate the lawful way to charge? And was 21 percent a lawful rate of interest? Under the 2014 model bye-laws the first answer was already no, and since 30 June 2026 it is no for every society. The second was yes under the old bye-laws and has been no since 30 June 2026.
What the rules say now
Until 2026 the detail of how a housing society charges its members lived mainly in its bye-laws, and most societies had adopted the model bye-laws issued by the Commissioner for Co-operation in 2014. The Maharashtra Co-operative Societies (Amendment) Rules, 2026, notified by the Co-operation, Marketing and Textiles Department on 18 June 2026 and in force from 30 June 2026, inserted a dedicated chapter for co-operative housing societies into the Maharashtra Co-operative Societies Rules, 1961, and fixed the method for the charges that caused the most disputes.
Revised model bye-laws were published in draft for comment, with objections accepted until 27 August 2026, and were awaiting finalisation in September 2026. Until a society adopts new bye-laws, its existing ones continue to govern everything the rules do not override.
| Head of charge | Lawful basis | What to check |
|---|---|---|
| Property tax | As assessed and billed by the municipality for each flat | Your share should match the municipal assessment, not a flat average |
| Water charges | Shared by the number and size of inlets in each flat, as per the sanctioned plan | Your share follows your inlets, not your floor area |
| Service charges (staff, security, housekeeping, office) | Divided equally among all flats, regardless of size | The same amount on a small and a large flat |
| Repair and maintenance fund | At least 0.75 percent of the flat's construction cost a year | Based on construction cost, fixed by the general body |
| Sinking fund | At least 0.25 percent of the flat's construction cost a year | Reserved for heavy repairs and reconstruction, approved by the general body |
| Non-occupancy charge | At most 10 percent of the service charges | Only on flats let out, and never a percentage of the whole bill |
| Interest on overdue dues | At most 12 percent a year, simple | Not compounded, and not 21 percent |
Why the heads matter more than the total
The logic behind the split is that different costs are caused differently. The watchman guards every flat equally, so his salary is shared equally. The municipality taxes each flat on its own assessment, so each pays its own tax. The building's future repair bill grows with the size of what was built, so the funds for it are tied to each flat's construction cost. A single rate per square foot across the whole bill makes large flats pay more of the shared costs and small flats less, which is the effect both the 2014 model bye-laws and the 2026 rules are written to stop. Making the equal split statutory has also drawn objections from owners of smaller flats in societies that had been charging by area, who will pay more of the service charges than before.
The sinking fund is the head that looks furthest ahead, because it exists for the end of a building's life, and in Mumbai that end is arriving in numbers: Knight Frank India counted 910 Mumbai housing societies that have signed redevelopment agreements since 2020, in its 2025 report on the city's redevelopment.
An analogy: splitting a restaurant bill
Friends splitting a restaurant bill usually do three different things without thinking about it. The shared starters are split equally. Each person pays for their own main course. And the tip is a percentage of what each ordered. Nobody would split the whole bill by body weight.
A society's maintenance bill works the same way. Service charges are the shared starters, split equally. Property tax and water are each flat's own main course, by its own assessment and its own inlets. The repair and sinking funds are the tip, a percentage of each flat's construction cost. A single per-square-foot rate across everything is the body-weight method.
The interest cap, in rupees
The change members will notice first is on arrears.
Source: Maharashtra Co-operative Societies (Amendment) Rules, 2026, notified June 2026; ReraGenie arithmetic.
Arrears that accumulated under the old ceiling generally remain payable. From 30 June 2026, interest on them should be charged at no more than 12 percent a year. A society that goes on billing 21 percent is billing more than the rules allow, whatever its old bye-laws say.
A society may lawfully charge a member interest on genuine arrears, because unpaid maintenance is paid for by every other member. The rules limit how much, not whether. If you are behind, pay the principal first and dispute only the excess.
The remedy paths compared
| Route | What it can achieve | Best when |
|---|---|---|
| Written request to the managing committee | The resolution and calculation behind each head, and a corrected bill | Always first; many errors are old habits, not intent |
| General body meeting | A resolution fixing the charges on the lawful basis for every member | The problem affects everyone, as a per-square-foot service charge does |
| Deputy Registrar of Co-operative Societies | Directions to the society to comply with the Act, rules and bye-laws | The committee refuses to correct a charge the rules clearly govern |
| Co-operative court | A decision on a dispute between a member and the society | The amount or the principle is contested and cannot be settled |
What to do this week
- Ask for the bill by head. Request the breakdown and the general body resolution fixing each charge. A society is expected to charge on resolutions, not on habit.
- Compare service charges with a neighbour's. They should be identical regardless of flat size.
- Check the interest rate on any arrears. Anything above 12 percent a year simple, for periods from 30 June 2026, is excess.
- Check any non-occupancy charge. At most 10 percent of the service charges, and only on let flats.
- Write, then raise it at the general body. A correction that applies to every member belongs in a resolution, not a private arrangement.
What Suresh and Kavita did
Suresh wrote to the committee asking for the resolution behind the per-square-foot rate and quoting the new rules on service charges and interest. The committee, which had simply carried forward a rate set by the promoter before the society took over, placed a revised structure before the next general body. Their service charges fell to the same figure as their neighbour's, their fund contributions stayed tied to their construction cost, and the interest on their late quarter was recomputed at 12 percent. Nobody had been dishonest. The rate had just never been read against the rules.
Where this starts: the promoter's first bill
In a new building, the first maintenance is set not by a society but by the promoter, who usually collects a year or more of it in advance at possession and runs the building until the society is formed and takes over. That is the moment a per-square-foot habit gets baked in, as it did for Suresh and Kavita, and it is also when a buyer has the most leverage to ask how the advance will be accounted for and handed over. From possession to society walks through that first year, and the share certificate and society membership covers the transfer premium, capped at Rs 25,000 in municipal corporation areas by a 2001 state government order. If you are weighing a resale flat against a new booking, maintenance is one of the recurring costs that differ between them, set side by side in resale or new booking.
Before you buy, the promoter's record on its other projects is where a pattern of slow handovers shows. For any covered Maharashtra project, the Rs 499 ReraGenie buyer report sets out the promoter's other registrations with their completion record and the complaints and litigation filed against this project with case numbers. Start with the project's free page.
The one-line summary
A maintenance bill is a set of heads, not a rate: service charges equal for every flat, property tax by each flat's assessment and water by its inlets, the repair and sinking funds tied to construction cost, non-occupancy at no more than 10 percent of service charges, and arrears interest capped at 12 percent a year since June 2026.
Methodology and sources
- Maharashtra Co-operative Societies (Amendment) Rules, 2026, notified by the Co-operation, Marketing and Textiles Department on 18 June 2026 and in force from 30 June 2026, inserting a chapter for co-operative housing societies into the Maharashtra Co-operative Societies Rules, 1961: equal service charges, water charges by inlet, the 12 percent cap on interest, non-occupancy at 10 percent of service charges, and the sinking and repair fund minimums.
- The previous 21 percent ceiling and the earlier equal split of service charges: model bye-laws for co-operative housing societies, 2014.
- Draft revised model bye-laws, with objections accepted until 27 August 2026.
- Society counts: about 1.27 lakh co-operative housing societies in Maharashtra, about 33,200 of them in Mumbai, as reported by the Free Press Journal in 2026.
- Redevelopment: Knight Frank India, Upgrading Mumbai: the redevelopment story, 2025.
- Transfer premium: Maharashtra government order of 9 August 2001 under section 79A of the Maharashtra Co-operative Societies Act, 1960.
This article is educational and not legal advice. For a dispute with your society, consult a lawyer practising in Maharashtra co-operative law.
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