25/11/2025
A Bengaluru civil court has struck down the "big-flat, big-fee" model used by the Purva Seasons Owners Association, ruling that maintenance charges cannot be based on the size of the flat. The court found that owners of all flat sizes use common facilities equally, so charging higher fees for larger flats was unreasonable. This model, introduced in July 2020, linked more than 74% of maintenance charges to the super built-up area, which was contested by a resident, Arun Kumar Rao, who argued it unfairly burdened larger flat owners despite identical usage of common amenities.The court noted several procedural errors in adopting this billing model, including the invalidity of the virtual extraordinary general body meeting held to approve it, discrepancies in area calculations, and voting irregularities. The court annulled all invoices issued under this hybrid area-based model from May to December 2020, directed the association to calculate maintenance charges equally per flat, and barred any future area-linked billing models. The association was also restrained from disconnecting essential services for non-payment under this model.In summary, the ruling emphasized that maintenance fees should be shared equally among all flat owners, irrespective of their flat size, as common services are enjoyed uniformly by residents οΏ½οΏ½.
