Maintenance Charges Essential for Housing Society for Amenities & Sustainability

Judgment dated 15.7.2026 of the High Court of Bombay in Writ Petition No.8034 of 2025 (AS) of Monarch Orchid Cooperative Housing Limited   Vs.   The State of Maharashtra and others

Cooperative Housing societies have long since shunned their role of a mere collective body for looking after common basic needs of the building. They now function as sophisticated, democratic, financial, and legal entities. The housing societies are now akin to service providers to the residents of the building. They now undertake myriad activities than restricting their role as a collective body looking after basic common needs of the building. Nowadays modern buildings have several facilities such as gardens, clubhouse, swimming pool, play-areas, mechanical parking, high speed elevators, etc. Many societies have also adopted sustainable practices such as recycling of water via STP plants, solid waste management facilities, rainwater harvesting, etc. The planning authorities have been encouraging the housing societies to adopt such sustainable practices. Modern housing societies in cities like Mumbai, Thane, Pune, etc have evolved into self-contained micro-townships, focusing on luxury, wellness, and digital convenience. They need to employ large number of staff for security, house-keeping, club-house, operation of office, for maintaining accounts, etc. There are also statutory requirements of maintaining sinking fund, repairs fund, etc. These activities undertaken by housing societies require substantial expenses and most of the societies are dependent only on contributions made by members for meeting that expenditure.

In such circumstances, if members stop paying monthly maintenance charges, such action puts strain on the finances of the Society, which finds it difficult to maintain the building. Defaults in payment of monthly maintenance charges many times force the other members to contribute extra amounts in order to ensure that the building and its facilities are maintained. It is keeping in mind these special circumstances relating to a co-operative housing societies that the legislature has consciously incorporated provisions of Section 154B 7 in the MCS Act.