GURUGRAM: Residents of Godrej Oasis in Sector 88A protested on Saturday against a significant increase in common area maintenance (CAM) charges. They alleged inadequate maintenance services, lack of financial transparency, and delayed resolution of long-standing society issues, including unpaid salaries for housekeeping staff. Despite raising their concerns through emails and meetings with the developer for several months, they reported receiving unsatisfactory responses.
The CAM charges increased from approximately Rs 4.79 per square foot to Rs 6.58 per square foot, excluding 18% GST, without proper justification or consultation with the residents.
On Saturday, the society’s housekeeping services halted after sanitation workers stopped working due to unpaid salaries. Residents gathered outside the management office, placing garbage there to draw attention to the deteriorating conditions. Rajinikanth Patri, general secretary of the residents’ association, expressed, “We are paying significantly higher maintenance charges, yet service quality has declined. We have requested detailed expense breakdowns and audited financial records to understand the hike, but received no satisfactory explanation.” Patri noted that the developer has yet to complete the handover process to the Residents’ Welfare Association (RWA) despite obtaining the Occupancy Certificate nearly seven years ago.
Persistent issues regarding housekeeping, landscaping, cleanliness, and infrastructure have gone unresolved for months. Residents have reported that housekeeping and security personnel frequently experience salary delays, leading to repeated strikes over the past year.
“Service quality has dropped dramatically. Cleaning, landscaping, and maintenance complaints remain unaddressed, even as residents are asked to pay more. Housekeeping workers stopped work on Saturday due to unpaid salaries,” stated Sachin Saxena, a resident.
The residents are demanding a rollback of the CAM increase, transparency in financial accounts, timely salary payments for staff, improved maintenance services, and prompt completion of the society’s handover to the RWA.
Concerns were also raised about the water quality within the society. Residents mentioned that they continue to rely on borewell water with high total dissolved solids (TDS), rendering it unsuitable for domestic use. “The borewell water has a TDS level of nearly 1,800 and is often muddy. Although an RO plant has been installed, it is ineffective due to poor maintenance. Additionally, there has been no canal water supply connection from authorities for several years,” another resident remarked.
When contacted, a spokesperson for Godrej Living stated, “There has been an industry-wide increase in CAM charges due to rising minimum wage rates in Haryana and inflation. However, residents at Godrej Oasis have not been covering the CAM needed for maintenance, nor have they taken over the society’s management. While we have been funding services and encouraging the RWA to take control, residents have not fulfilled necessary payment obligations or accepted responsibility. We remain committed to providing quality services at current industry rates and standards.”
