'Paid 4 years’ maintenance upfront, billed again': Wealth advisor reveals middle-class housing trap
If each flat owner paid ₹1 lakh in advance and a single tower had 100 flats, that’s ₹1 crore in builder-held funds. Across 10 towers, that’s ₹10 crore — collected, unaccounted for, and now disconnected from the homeowners who paid it.
- Jul 11, 2025,
- Updated Jul 11, 2025 8:06 AM IST
You pay four years of maintenance upfront thinking you’re covered. Two years in, an app pings: “Maintenance due. Pay now.” That’s the dilemma Sujith SS, founder of Moneydhan.com, spotlighted in a LinkedIn post, and it's a reality many Indian homebuyers are waking up to.
In the post, Sujith introduces “Rajeev,” a working-class Mumbaikar who finally booked his dream home in a large-scale township project. Like thousands of others, Rajeev was asked to pay four years of maintenance in advance, between ₹5 to ₹10 per square foot. He paid without protest, thinking, “At least no monthly hassle.”
But just two years after moving in, Rajeev received a notification on the MyGate app: “Maintenance due. Please pay immediately.”
Puzzled, he approached the society office — only to be told there were no records of his payment. “The builder handed over the society with zero maintenance data,” they said. According to their system, his balance was zero.
When he contacted the builder, the answer was worse: “Sir, we’ve handed over everything to the society. We don’t have access anymore.”
Rajeev was stuck. The builder claimed the four-year count began the moment the fee was collected — not from the date of possession. In effect, buyers were losing months, even years, of paid maintenance time before they even got their keys.
Sujith’s post breaks this down with numbers. If each flat owner paid ₹1 lakh in advance and a single tower had 100 flats, that’s ₹1 crore in builder-held funds. Across 10 towers, that’s ₹10 crore — collected, unaccounted for, and now disconnected from the homeowners who paid it.
When residents tried to protest peacefully, police told them they had no permission. “Go through official channels,” they were told.
“Don’t trust what the builder says at face value. Builders show one thing, sell something else, and reality turns out very different.”
For India’s homebuyers, it's a reminder that even after paying in full, the fine print — or lack of it — can still cost you.
You pay four years of maintenance upfront thinking you’re covered. Two years in, an app pings: “Maintenance due. Pay now.” That’s the dilemma Sujith SS, founder of Moneydhan.com, spotlighted in a LinkedIn post, and it's a reality many Indian homebuyers are waking up to.
In the post, Sujith introduces “Rajeev,” a working-class Mumbaikar who finally booked his dream home in a large-scale township project. Like thousands of others, Rajeev was asked to pay four years of maintenance in advance, between ₹5 to ₹10 per square foot. He paid without protest, thinking, “At least no monthly hassle.”
But just two years after moving in, Rajeev received a notification on the MyGate app: “Maintenance due. Please pay immediately.”
Puzzled, he approached the society office — only to be told there were no records of his payment. “The builder handed over the society with zero maintenance data,” they said. According to their system, his balance was zero.
When he contacted the builder, the answer was worse: “Sir, we’ve handed over everything to the society. We don’t have access anymore.”
Rajeev was stuck. The builder claimed the four-year count began the moment the fee was collected — not from the date of possession. In effect, buyers were losing months, even years, of paid maintenance time before they even got their keys.
Sujith’s post breaks this down with numbers. If each flat owner paid ₹1 lakh in advance and a single tower had 100 flats, that’s ₹1 crore in builder-held funds. Across 10 towers, that’s ₹10 crore — collected, unaccounted for, and now disconnected from the homeowners who paid it.
When residents tried to protest peacefully, police told them they had no permission. “Go through official channels,” they were told.
“Don’t trust what the builder says at face value. Builders show one thing, sell something else, and reality turns out very different.”
For India’s homebuyers, it's a reminder that even after paying in full, the fine print — or lack of it — can still cost you.