After my return from the U S in November 2006 I used to call on Mr Amarjit Singh, the Project -in-charge, for a chat. He would ask me to help in writing maintenance receipts. I got sucked into the job and before I could realise it, I was in the office every day and writing receipts.
From March 2007, Mr Singh began to make himself scarce and I was totally in charge. Though the executive committee members were supposed to be staying in the complex, none of them did--for they were either still in service, have another house or stay outside Hyderabad, but mostly because they get good rent from the Kendriya Vihar flat.
But I enjoyed my interaction with the residents, the young and the old.The young bachelors need to be disciplined. I was amazed when three in ten cheques given towards maintenance of Rs 800. actually bounced!!there was no money in their bank accounts and the worst part is the KVAOA had a debit of Rs 30 for every bounced cheque.
One resident came to me on the 30 th to lodge a complaint and I asked him why he has not yet paid the maintenance . He said it escaped his memory. But not the rent; for if he had not transferred the rent to the owner before the first week, he would be given the boot.
Another software guy did not pay for one month. The next month a notice board was put up including his name among the defaulters. He meets me and gives a cheque for Rs 800. It promptly bounces. When I call him he says the crdit card company took away all his bank balance!!Don't these guys check their bank balance before issuing cheques.He gets salary on the first and on the fifth the balance is nil! come on, give me a break.
There are 178 flats in Kendriya Vihar with a mere 18 owners/residents. Sixty percent of the tenants are from Microsoft, 20 percent from Infosys and the remaaining from different companies.I am sure all thse software guys/gals must have visited the U S/U K sometime or the other. I am sure they must have known about how the restrooms are maintained. But in KV they are either slack, negligent or just careless. For how can you explain the pathetic condition of their bathrooms. The plumber gets calls everyday about choking toilet drains--he has to manually fish out hair,empty shampoo satchets and sanitary napkins.
Added to this is the servantmaid who is a law unto herself. She just pushes down the drain all leftover food, kitchen waste and whatnot. One old resident even put a clothes brush, a comb and a stailess steel tumbler in the wash area drain. And he blames it on the servant.
Of course the onus is on the owner when it comes to paying maintenance. while some pay themselves, others let the tenants pay. The latter don't bother to check whether his tenant has paid the maintenance. Most of the tenants delay payment, but promptly complain about petty things. A couple did not pay for two months and in the third month registered a complaint about the lift not working. The next day the lift servicemen came and set right things. This couple happened to come to the office and literally shouted about the lift not working and that he would not pay the maintenance.I told him its okay if he did not want to pay for that month and questioned him why he did not pay for the two earlier months as there was no complaint about the lift; he had no answer. You get a right to complain when you are regular and not a defaulter.
One owner wanted to know if she should pay maintenance when her flat was vacant for two months. Some owners ask me if they should raise the rent once the lease period is over. Their will and pleasure but pay the maintenance if you want KV to be a trend-setter.
When the flats were handed over to the allottees, many wanted to rent them. At that time the going rental was not that much. But one enterprising real estate agent jacked up the rents. And the owners were happy as they were getting three times their expectations. The agent was getting brokerage from both parties, and he became lakhier overnight. So all the bachelors began to depend on him for everything and anything--from mattresses to gas cylinder refills. One year later when the lease agreement was ending, the agent calls up the owner and suggests that he kick out the bachelor boys so that he could get someone else to rent the flat for another thousand rupees more. One owner fell for this and gave notice to the tenants. The cyber guys did'nt know what to do and the same fellows who patronised the agent, now began to hate him.
