From Cleo County in Sector 121 to Jaypee Wish Town in Sector 134, maintenance-charge disputes are erupting across the Noida corridor. Here is what CAM actually is, why the hikes keep happening, and the questions every buyer should ask before booking.
On the night of 31 August 2026, residents of Cleo County in Sector 121 gathered to protest. Their complaint was not about construction quality or a delayed possession. It was about a maintenance-charge hike of around 40%, and the fact that they had been told, late in the evening, that the revised charges would apply retrospectively from April, with more than five months of the difference recoverable from their accounts within days.
If that were an isolated incident, it would be a local story. It is not. A few sectors away, residents of Jaypee Wish Town in Sector 134 fought a proposed 100% increase, and the Noida Authority had to step in to halt it. Across the corridor, residents of Godrej Oasis, ATS Allure in Greater Noida, Supertech projects, and Tata Eureka Park in Sector 150 have all protested similar hikes over the past year.
This is a pattern, not a coincidence. And it points to a cost that almost no buyer models before they purchase, yet one that will follow them for as long as they own the home: Common Area Maintenance, or CAM. Here is what it really is, why these disputes keep happening, and how to protect yourself before you sign.
What CAM actually is, and why it is bigger than you think
Common Area Maintenance charges are what you pay for the upkeep of everything you do not own individually but share with your neighbours: the lifts, lobbies, corridors, clubhouse, gym, swimming pool, landscaping, common-area lighting, water systems, security, and housekeeping. In a modern gated society with a long list of amenities, that is a substantial monthly bill.
CAM is almost always calculated on a per-square-foot basis, with charges commonly ranging from roughly Rs 2 to Rs 25 per square foot depending on the project amenities and location. Here is the first catch worth knowing: most developers calculate this on the super built-up area, not the carpet area. That is the same loading problem that inflates your purchase price, striking a second time on your monthly bill. A larger super built-up figure means a larger CAM charge, every single month, for the life of the ownership.
There is a tax angle most buyers never hear about either. If monthly maintenance charges exceed Rs 7,500 per flat, 18% GST applies on the amount. So a hike does not just raise the base charge; if it pushes you past that threshold, it can add a further 18% on top. For a premium 3BHK, that combination is not trivial.
Why the hikes keep happening: the builder-control problem
The heart of nearly every dispute is the same: who controls maintenance, and how transparent are they.
In the early years after possession, maintenance is typically run by a company owned or appointed by the builder. At Cleo County, residents said the operations are handled by CCMS, a company associated with the County Group. At Jaypee Wish Town, it was the developer own arm. This is legal, and common. The problem is the incentive structure: a builder-controlled maintenance company sets the charges, keeps the books, and answers mainly to itself. Residents in these disputes have consistently raised the same three complaints: charges increased without their consent, financial records kept opaque, and hikes sometimes applied retrospectively.
This control is meant to be temporary. It is supposed to pass to the residents, through an Apartment Owners Association (AOA) or Resident Welfare Association (RWA), once the society is established. In practice, that handover is often delayed, and the longer the builder retains control, the longer residents have little leverage over what they are billed. That gap between possession and resident control is where most CAM disputes live.
What RERA and the law actually give you
Here is the part most residents discover only after they are already in a fight: the rights they already hold.
Under the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, the developer is responsible for maintaining common areas and providing essential services until the project is handed over to the RWA or society. Crucially, developers are permitted to collect advance maintenance charges but must clearly disclose these amounts to buyers at the time of purchase, and the charges must be reasonable, with computation that is transparent. Arbitrary, undisclosed charges are prohibited.
The law also addresses the handover directly. The developer is obligated to facilitate the formation of an RWA within a specified time after a majority of units are sold, and must transfer the management of common areas, along with an audited account of maintenance charges collected and spent, to the RWA upon its formation. And there is a provision that quietly matters a great deal: developers must bear the maintenance costs for unsold units, so buyers are not unfairly burdened for flats the builder has not yet sold.
A few more protections worth knowing, drawn from RERA rules and recent rulings:
- Maintenance funds are meant to be kept in a separate bank account, and hidden or ad-hoc fees are prohibited.
- Once the RWA is formed, maintenance charges must be approved in General Body Meetings by society members, and audited financials are expected. Charges are no longer the builder to set alone.
- No arbitrary increases: in the pre-RWA phase, charges cannot be revised or hiked without proper justification and prior communication to buyers.
None of this makes disputes automatic to win. Enforcement is uneven, which is exactly why residents end up protesting. But knowing these rights changes how you frame a complaint, from “please reconsider” to “here is the obligation you are not meeting.”
IFMS: the deposit you will not think about until handover
There is a second maintenance-related sum that catches buyers off guard, usually years later: the Interest-Free Maintenance Security, or IFMS.
IFMS is a one-time deposit collected at purchase, meant to act as a buffer the society can draw on for shortfalls. It is usually calculated either as a fixed amount per unit type, or as a rate per square foot multiplied by the unit size. At Rs 50 per sq ft on a 1,000 sq ft unit, for example, the IFMS would be Rs 50,000. Like CAM, most developers calculate it on the super built-up area, even though RERA requires the base price to be quoted on carpet area.
Two things about IFMS every buyer should file away. First, at handover, the developer is legally obligated to transfer the entire collected IFMS corpus, after legitimate deductions, to the RWA bank account, so the new association starts with a real balance. If that transfer is incomplete or unaccounted for, that is a red flag. Second, when you sell, the IFMS stays with the society; it is transferable rather than refundable, so you recover it from the new buyer by building it into the resale price. Many sellers simply forget to, and lose the money.
The questions to ask before you book
This is the part that turns a news story into something useful. Before you sign for any apartment in the corridor, get clear answers to these, in writing wherever possible:
- What is the current CAM rate, per sq ft, and on which area? Confirm whether it is charged on carpet or super built-up. The difference compounds monthly.
- Is there an escalation clause? Ask how and when CAM can be revised, and by whom, before the RWA exists.
- Who runs the maintenance? A builder-owned company, or an independent agency? Is there a fixed timeline to hand control to the AOA?
- Is the AOA or RWA already formed? If yes, charges are member-approved. If no, you are buying into the builder-controlled phase, so go in with eyes open.
- What is the IFMS amount, and on what basis? Get the figure and the calculation, and keep the receipt. You will want it at resale.
- Are the maintenance accounts audited and shared? Transparency before you buy predicts transparency after.
A builder who answers these clearly is telling you something reassuring. One who deflects is also telling you something.
If you are already in a dispute
For readers who own in an affected society, the corridor recent history offers one clear, practical lesson: authorities act when residents act together. The Noida Authority intervened at Jaypee Wish Town after residents united and organised; individual complaints rarely move the system. If you are facing a hike you believe is arbitrary:
- Ask, formally and in writing, for the justification, the revised computation, and the basis for any retrospective charge.
- Push for the formation of the AOA or RWA if it does not yet exist. That is where lasting control lies.
- Escalate collectively to the Noida Authority and, where relevant, UP-RERA, citing the disclosure and handover obligations above.
- Insist on audited accounts and a separate maintenance account, both of which the rules already require.
The Property Saraansh read
CAM is the cost that outlives the sale. Long after the price negotiation is done and the keys are handed over, the maintenance relationship, and for a while the builder control over it, continues. It is the part of the purchase buyers scrutinise least and end up fighting over most.
When we advise a client on a purchase in Noida, Greater Noida or along the Yamuna Expressway, we treat CAM and IFMS as part of the real cost of the home, not an afterthought. A Rs 15,000-a-month maintenance bill that can be hiked at will is a very different proposition from one that is transparent, member-controlled and disclosed up front. The protests across the corridor are a reminder that the fine print you skip today is the meeting you attend, angrily, three years from now.
Thinking about a purchase in the Noida corridor and want the full cost picture, CAM, IFMS, escalation clauses and all, before you commit? That is exactly the diligence we do for our clients. Book a consultation, or join our WhatsApp list for honest, fine-print breakdowns on every project we cover.
Sources: Reporting on resident protests at Cleo County (Sector 121), Jaypee Wish Town (Sector 134), Godrej Oasis, ATS Allure and Tata Eureka Park, mid-2026; RERA provisions on maintenance and common-area management; industry guidance on CAM, IFMS and GST applicability. Claims regarding specific societies reflect residents statements as reported in the press. Charges and rules vary by project and state, so verify current terms and RERA compliance before purchase.
