PUNE: The state cooperation department will submit in the second week of Oct suggestions and objections from the public on the proposed amendment to the Maharashtra Apartment Ownership Act, 1970, a top official has said.
Deepak Taware, commissioner of cooperation and registrar of cooperative societies, told TOI that a 10-member committee held another meeting with stakeholders on Thursday. There would be a few more such meetings after which the suggestions would be compiled and the final draft would be sent to the state govt, he said.
The committee, headed by Taware, was set up by the department on June 7 to review the Act amid demands from housing societies for changes to the decades-old legislation. Maharashtra has more than one lakh buildings registered under the Act, with Pune district alone accounting for more than 15,000.
“After our department has submitted the report, the state will publish it in a gazette and invite suggestions and objections from the public,” Taware said.
Last month, a Pune citizens’ group had demanded that the state start an online portal to register all apartments and to ensure that suggestions were sought from all stakeholders on the proposed amendment. Housing federations had on Aug 30 sent a letter to the cooperation department seeking a proper phase-wise planning to ensure that suggestions reached the state govt.
The state had called for suggestions around two months ago, and officials said they had received more than 150 suggestions in Aug alone. “We have got a large number of suggestions most of which are about maintenance, a complaint portal, and land transfer issues. The department also intends to study the legislations governing apartments in other states before submitting the final draft,” Taware said.
The apartment Act was enacted in 1970 empowering the department of housing to redress grievances of apartment associations and their members. However, following the 2020 amendment, the department of cooperation has been granted limited authority to look into complaints.
A deed of declaration is registered by a builder with the sub-registrar, yet there is no record of this with either of the departments. As a result, the state lacks essential information about the number of registered/non-registered and either functional or dysfunctional apartment associations in Maharashtra, which is critical for bringing in an amendment to the Act.
“We urge for a more inclusive approach which would include launching an online portal and collating information and designing a format on how they (public) should submit their recommendations,” the committee had said.
Pune: The state cooperation department will submit in the second week of Oct suggestions and objections from the public on the proposed amendment to the Maharashtra Apartment Ownership Act, 1970, a top official has said.
Deepak Taware, commissioner of cooperation and registrar of cooperative societies, told TOI that a 10-member committee held another meeting with stakeholders on Thursday. There would be a few more such meetings after which the suggestions would be compiled and the final draft would be sent to the state govt, he said.
The committee, headed by Taware, was set up by the department on June 7 to review the Act amid demands from housing societies for changes to the decades-old legislation. Maharashtra has more than one lakh buildings registered under the Act, with Pune district alone accounting for more than 15,000.
“After our department has submitted the report, the state will publish it in a gazette and invite suggestions and objections from the public,” Taware said.
Last month, a Pune citizens’ group had demanded that the state start an online portal to register all apartments and to ensure that suggestions were sought from all stakeholders on the proposed amendment. Housing federations had on Aug 30 sent a letter to the cooperation department seeking a proper phase-wise planning to ensure that suggestions reached the state govt.
The state had called for suggestions around two months ago, and officials said they had received more than 150 suggestions in Aug alone. “We have got a large number of suggestions most of which are about maintenance, a complaint portal, and land transfer issues. The department also intends to study the legislations governing apartments in other states before submitting the final draft,” Taware said.
The apartment Act was enacted in 1970 empowering the department of housing to redress grievances of apartment associations and their members. However, following the 2020 amendment, the department of cooperation has been granted limited authority to look into complaints.
A deed of declaration is registered by a builder with the sub-registrar, yet there is no record of this with either of the departments. As a result, the state lacks essential information about the number of registered/non-registered and either functional or dysfunctional apartment associations in Maharashtra, which is critical for bringing in an amendment to the Act.
“We urge for a more inclusive approach which would include launching an online portal and collating information and designing a format on how they (public) should submit their recommendations,” the committee had said.
