Mumbai: One flat, one free parking

The State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (SCDRC) has directed the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) to amend its Development Control Rules and make it mandatory for builders to provide one free car parking space with each flat. Under the current rules, builders are offering fewer parking spaces and customers are being charged extra for a parking spot.

The SCDRC cited a Supreme Court order which states that under the Maharashtra Ownership of Flats Act (MOFA), a promoter has no right to sell any portion of a building which does not fall under the definition of a 'flat'.

According to the commission, car parking is an "essential amenity" and said that the BMC must ensure that building plans include one car parking space for each flat purchaser. As per the current rules, the developer is liable to provide only one parking space measuring 35 sq.m. for four tenements.

The SCDRC panel said that excess car parking spaces can be reserved for visitors. It also stated that builders who use part of the sanctioned FSI to create parking space should be allowed to sell them at market rates.

Source: Mumbai Mirror