SCMC - South City Maintenance Committee

(Official Receiver under Order 40 Rule 1 of CPC - Appointed By The Hon’ble High Court of Karnataka)

1st Floor, Club House, South City, Off Bannerghatta Road, Bangalore 560076

Nov 7th, 2013

 Maintenance Charges for December 2013 – March 2014 (Advance Announcement)

 Maintenance Charges

The current quarter – the second since SCMC assumed responsibility for maintenance of South City – comes to an end on 30th November 2013.  The arrangements for collection of maintenance charges for the remaining four months left in the current financial year, i.e. for the months of December 2013 and January, February and March 2014, are being finalized and will be available soon.   It is proposed to split this period into two 2-month cycles so that, in effect, the maintenance charges become payable in two installments for the four-month period.  Full details regarding due dates, the revised ad hoc rate etc. will be available in the circular to be issued soon.

Why Still Ad Hoc?

As residents are aware, SCMC started by collecting maintenance charges at the ad hoc rate of Rs.3.00/sqft, but adjusted it downwards to Rs.2.75/sqft for the second quarter in the light of experience.  This process of adjustment will continue and our further experience over the second quarter will no doubt be reflected in fixing the ad hoc rate for the last four months, which will hopefully see a further downward adjustment.

However, we believe that we can realistically drop the ad hoc prefix only after we have had a little more time so that expenses that arise over irregular intervals can be averaged out into the monthly charges.  Another unresolved issue relates to Service Tax.  We are in the process of seeking expert advice on the extent of its applicability and impact.  We request residents to bear with us; hopefully a more stable rate can be introduced at the end of the current financial year.

How long SCMC?

Let us hasten to add that SCMC has already sought the Court’s directive for initiating the process for an early transfer of its responsibilities to the owners’ association.  We hope a decision in this respect will not be unduly delayed.  So long as SCMC is in position, however, we would consider it prudent to keep the long-term also in view so that the successor association is able to take over smoothly and without any interruption in services. 

The L&T Myth

There is an impression being created among residents that SCMC is collecting maintenance charges at a much higher rate than was being done by L&T.  Nothing can be farther from the truth.  The figures for the period prior to July 1, 2013, directly comparable with the ad hoc maintenance charges collected by SCMC are as follows, as intimated by L&T to some residents through an unsigned statement:

 In addition, L&T has sent SCMC a so-called ‘audited statement’ for Q1 of 2013-14, claiming a total expenditure of Rs.2,95,82,662/- or roughly Rs.98,60,887/- per month. Specifically for June 2013, L&T claims to have spent Rs 1.01,31,096 on maintenance. This means Rs.3.26/sqft/month and clearly some Rs.25 lakhs per month more than what SCMC had to incur for July-September, 2013.

R. Rajagopalan

Member

For SCMC