MUMBAI: Maharashtra Housing Minister Jitendra Awhad said on Tuesday that flat owners in Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (MHADA) colonies in Mumbai will be exempt from paying interest on unpaid service charges of Rs 400 crore.The Mumbai Board of the authority is implementing an amnesty policy for the recovery of service costs beginning April 2021, according to Awhad, who said that the government has waived all interest owed from 1998 to 2021 under this scheme.In the presence of MHADA staff, the minister was addressing to reporters after launching MHADA’s new e-billing system for service charge payment at his official residence. “The state administration is constantly concerned about the average citizen. As a result, the (unpaid) interest on the service fee amount (of Rs 400 crore) has been totally waived, resolving a 23-year-old issue ‘’ said Awhad.
Citizens (MHADA apartment owners) must pay service charges, according to him, but they can pay them in five or ten instalments. “They can pay whenever they want,” the minister replied, “but they will have to pay at least two instalments every year.” He stated that the MHADA’s decision to implement an e-billing system for service charge payment was a historic decision that will help about 1.46 lakh residents.
According to MHADA officials, service charges are assessed for a variety of services supplied by the state-run housing agency in its colonies, including water pump maintenance and housekeeping staff pay, among other things.