Mumbai: Mulund man’s wheels held hostage in parking war

Sachin Kapure has been residing there since 2002 with his parents, but now lives alone after their demise. He told mid-day that the society should provide him with a proper parking space instead of clamping his vehicles.

The society has 220 flats, and Kapure had been parking his car and bike inside for many years without any parking rules in place. After the lottery system was implemented and spaces were allotted in April, the society began charging him Rs 500 per day for parking in another member’s spot.

Speaking to mid-day, Kapure said, “I’m a software engineer, for the past 30–45 days, I’ve been travelling by bus, auto, taxi and train because my car and bike have been clamped. I sought help from Mulund police, but they told me it’s a civil matter.”

Kapure’s scooter lying clamped near the society gate

He added that in April, the society conducted the parking lottery, but his name was not included as he had pending maintenance dues for over a year. Although he cleared most of the dues, the society still clamped his car and bike on July 6. His bike was towed and parked near the security gate. Due to the ongoing legal dispute between him and the society he had not paid the remaining dues.

Even after he broke the clamp once, on police advice, the society clamped both vehicles again. “My car and bike have been lying unused for over a month, getting damaged,” he said. According to Kapure, the society charges R100 per month for car parking and Rs 50 for bike parking from members, including himself.

Society secretary Sanjay Kuckian said, “Kapure has been on the defaulters’ list for over a year. He did not get a parking space in the April lottery because of unpaid dues. Despite repeated requests and notices, he parked in someone else’s allotted space. The committee decided to clamp his vehicles after a general body meeting. Societies have the right to take action if members refuse to remove wrongly parked vehicles.”

Advocate Vinod Sampat, president of the Cooperative Societies Residents Association, said, “Recent orders have come from the Bombay High Court that if a member is a defaulter, the society has wide powers to recover dues, including disconnection of essential services like water and electricity. The law gives societies the power to take coercive action to disconnect a water line, which is an essential service. However, any restraint must be addressed by society through proper channels.

The member whose car is clamped should approach the cooperative court with a prayer to remove the clamp and should claim damages from the society for harassment caused due to the clamping. Because of the high court order on disconnection of essential services, some society office-bearers are, to a certain extent, behaving like dictators. As far as the parking rules of the society are concerned, the said member is advised to challenge the same in the cooperative court.”

Advocate Godfrey Pimenta, trustee of the Watchdog Foundation, said, “A housing society has no legal authority to clamp a member’s vehicle for unpaid dues. Only an RTO-authorised officer can clamp a vehicle under the Motor Vehicles Act. Societies must use Section 101 of the Societies Act for dues recovery, rather than resorting to unlawful clamping.”

Speaking with mid-day Senior Inspector Ajay Joshi of the Mulund police station said, "We received complaint from the Sachin Kapure after society committee clamped his bike and car. He complained to us multiple times and we also sent our officer to the society complex. The society committee told to us that these are society rules which were made in the general body meeting and police should not interrupt into this matter. 

Due to this reason we are taking help from the Deputy Registrar. The Deputy Registrar also sent us letter that they are investigating this matter. We are will investigate and solve this matter.”

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