Often, through this column and through the guidance that I provide in Moneylife Foundation's counselling sessions or through their
Legal Helpline, I have advised people to write a complaint to their local deputy registrar (DR) of cooperative societies. In most cases, letters written to the deputy registrar are diligently looked into and complaints are redressed with appropriate action on time.
However, in some instances, your complaint may not get redressed at the deputy registrar level. In such cases, you can either follow up on your complaint through a Right to Information (RTI) application or perhaps through escalation to the higher office of the district deputy registrar (DDR). If the complaint remains unresolved, there is still an option to escalate further, as I will clarify in this week's column.
Escalation of Complaints Made to Deputy Registrar of Cooperative Societies
Question: I sent a letter to the district DR of Pune but have not received a satisfactory response. I also sent them a reminder, but I have not received any response. In this circumstance, whom should I contact for redressal? Please advise.
Answer: Above the office of the DR, there is the district deputy registrar—DDR, whose office for the Pune district is in Sakhar Bhavan, at Shivaji Nagar. For any complaints not redressed by a DR, you can escalate to DDR Pune at the address above. If the DDR does not address your complaint, you can further escalate it to their superior office, the divisional joint registrar (DJR) of Pune, whose address you can get from DDR's Pune office. Even further above the DJR is the registrar of cooperation (RCooP), Maharashtra state, whose office is also located in Pune.
As you make a complaint to any of these offices, you should also follow up with an RTI application and a photocopy of your complaint to the concerned office's public information officer (PIO). In such an RTI application, you can ask the PIO to provide information on the action taken against your complaint. The PIO has 30 days to respond to your RTI application, through which you can understand whether said officer has taken any action to redress your complaint.
Also, if no proper response is given to you, then you can file a Lokshahi Din complaint with the Pune district collector, who holds a hearing in his office on the first Monday of every month.
Transfer of Late Husband's Share in Jointly Owned Flat
Question: A married couple in our cooperative housing society (CHS/Society) owns a flat jointly. The husband is named as the first owner in the share certificate and there is no nomination on record. Now, the husband has passed away; the legal heirs are his wife and two minor sons. Society has demanded a succession certificate or release deed as proof of transfer of ownership since the wife has requested that the flat be transferred solely in her name. Please advise.
Answer: Since the woman, in this case, has minor children, if she makes a release deed, her minor children will be joint owners for 50% of the flat (which was owned by her late husband). This allows her two sons to receive 25% share each.
As her sons are minors, she would need to put her signature for both sons in the release deed, in which she is the 'releasor' and her minor sons will be 'releasees'. However, suppose she wants her husband's part to be transferred solely in her name, thereby making her 100% owner of the flat. In that case, she has to make a testamentary petition in a competent civil court to get her late husband's share transferred in her name. Once the above procedure is done, the Society can transfer the jointly owned flat's share accordingly.
Tackling Defaulters and Recovering Outstanding Dues
Question: Our Society has many defaulting members and the outstanding amount has continued to grow since 2017. In the most recent annual general meeting (AGM), all committee members have submitted an application to the district DR and the matter is pending at their office (to decide whether an administrator would be appointed). Despite the auditor's remarks about the recovery of outstanding amounts with interest, no action has been taken by the committee members. As a concerned member of the Society, what can I do in this situation? Can I separately make an application to the district DR for recovery of maintenance charges? Please advise.
Answer: With a copy of the auditor's report, you should write a complaint to the DR, under bye-law no. 174(A)(xxii) against the managing committee (MC) of the Society, asking them to appoint an authorised officer (AO) or an administrator to your Society for non-recovery of huge outstanding amounts from defaulting members.
To ensure that DR takes action against MC, by appointing an AO, you should file an RTI application with a copy of the acknowledgement of your original complaint to the PIO of DR office. In such an RTI application, you should request the PIO to give you information on the action taken by the DR regarding your complaint.
As the RTI Act stipulates, the PIO has 30 days to respond to your RTI application. It is very likely that the DR will take action against your complaint within this 30 days and an AO will be appointed to your Society. The appointed AO will then initiate action against the defaulting members within 30 days.
Disclaimer: The guidance provided in these columns and on our Legal Helpline is on the sole basis of the facts provided by the reader/questioner and does not amount to formal legal advice in any form whatsoever.
(Shirish Shanbhag has an MSc in Organic Chemistry, a Diploma in Higher Education, and a Diploma in French and has completed his LL.B. in first class in 2021. Before his retirement, he was a junior college teacher at Patkar College from July 1980 to May 2012, teaching theoretical and practical chemistry. Post-retirement in 2012, he started providing guidance and counselling to people on several issues, specifically focusing on cooperative housing society-related matters. He has over 30 years of hands-on experience in all matters about housing societies and can provide out-of-box solutions for any practical issue.)
NOTE
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