Court-backed online housing redressal initiative fails to take off

The state government has introduced a new Complaint Redressal Mechanism for cooperative housing societies through a recent government resolution GR It requires District Cooperative Registrars Joint District Cooperative Registrars and Deputy District Cooperative Registrars to conduct hearings via video conferencing While aimed at reducing travel time improving efficiency and offering convenience housing activists claim the GR has yet to be implemented in cooperative departmentsAn eyewashldquoIt is a welcome move but the irony is that the cooperative department has not followed the GR or implemented the Bombay High Courtrsquos January 5 2022 orderrdquo said CA Ramesh Prabhu chairman of MahaSEWA The order passed in a public interest litigation by RTI activist Shailesh Gandhi mandated online mechanisms for quasijudicial bodiesRTI activist and former Central Information Commissioner Shailesh GandhildquoThe GR is meaningless without implementation Litigants remain clueless about filing complaints presenting evidence joining video hearings or accessing technical support for troubleshooting issuesrdquo Prabhu addedOver 100 complaintsEach of Mumbairsquos 24 municipal ward offices has a cooperative assistant or deputy registrar office which receives 100 to 150 complaints monthly from members of cooperative housing societies Issues include elections corruption allegations against managing committees leakages parking disputes and conflicts between members and office bearers ldquoThe state has 36 districts and over 340 talukas each with a cooperative department officerdquo explained PrabhuAsked why online hearing directives are not implemented Prabhu said ldquoThe cooperative department seems unwilling to act and the state government shows no urgency to enforce these directives Officials cite a lack of infrastructure and manpower for online hearings They prefer personal hearings requiring both complainants and defendants to appear physically This demonstrates the governmentrsquos failure to adhere to high court directivesrdquoPlea filed in public interestRTI activist and former Central Information Commissioner Shailesh Gandhi told midday ldquoDuring COVID19 people adapted to working online from home proving itrsquos feasible We believed online services should extend to all quasijudicial bodiesrdquo Gandhi noted that even during his tenure in 20092010 online hearings through the NIC network saved time money and effort for both officials and citizens ldquoDespite our efforts to push for implementation the government ignored us forcing us to move the Bombay High Court in 2020rdquoCourt orders ignoredGandhi added ldquoThe Bombay High Court supported our plea directing the state to adopt online hearings While GRs were issued the system remains largely unimplemented after two years It feels as if officials treat these GRs as lsquotoilet paperrsquordquoHousing federation reactsldquoThe state government through its notification dated October 13 2020 directed that quasijudicial administrative hearings and proceedings be conducted via video conferencing The Honrsquoble Bombay High Court in its judgment on January 5 2021 further directed the expediting of such hearings postpandemic Accordingly the cooperation department issued a circular on December 13 2024 allowing parties to request online hearingsrdquo said Advocate Shreeprasad Parab expert director Maharashtra State Housing FederationPortal lsquoSahakar SamvadrsquoldquoUnder the principle of lsquoAudi Alteram Partemrsquo every party has a fundamental right to a fair hearing To uphold this the cooperative department and the Maharashtra State Cooperative Housing Federation launched the portal lsquoSahakar Samvadrsquo enabling complainants to file cases online The SOP is uploaded on the portal which now aims to publish officersrsquo daily boards online Suggestions include making all hearings online and integrating departments for matters like deemed conveyance and redevelopment advancing the Single Window System conceptrdquo Parab added