Noida: Residents of Cleo County in Sector 121 protested on Tuesday against a 40% increase in common area maintenance charges and its retrospective application from April this year. The 25-acre society has more than 2,500 units and residents living in 1,450 of them have signed a petition against the hike.The builder started handing over the flats in 2017 and the first revision in maintenance charges was made in 2024. The developer hiked the charges by 65 paise per square foot. The latest increase, however, takes the charge from Rs 2.75 to Rs 3.85 per sq ft. A resident living in a 1,000 sq ft flat in the society had to pay Rs 2,750 till April this year, but now the same resident will have to pay Rs 3,850.Residents are now asking for a rollback. They held a protest march on Sunday. A resident of the society, Ashwani Lamba, said, “Our society is just nine years old and we don’t have an apartment owners’ association yet. With inflation, we had expected a reasonable hike in maintenance charges but not 40%,” he said. “The Cleo County director is out of the country and he is expected to return on Sept 20. We have scheduled a meeting with him and hope that we will soon find a solution.”Tushar Goel, another resident of the society, told TOI that the residents understand that CAM charges will increase beyond a point. But they expect the developer to rationalise the charges. “The hike should be brought down so that it is not a financial stress on residents. Our protest is not directed against any individual or group. We believe it can be solved through dialogue,” he said.The County Group spokesperson has issued a statement. It said the rising labour costs and essential inputs have primarily contributed to the hike. After the labour protests in March this year, the state govt increased the minimum wages of the workers. In Gautam Buddh Nagar, unskilled workers now receive Rs 13,690 per month, up from Rs 11,313. Semi-skilled workers are paid Rs 15,059, while skilled workers will get Rs 16,868.“Manpower accounts for nearly 70–80% of maintenance expenses, and the additional escalation in the statutory minimum wage hike post Noida workers’ protest has brought on increased operational costs, alongside continuous price hikes in annual maintenance costs with elevator companies, in repair work and spare parts,” the statement read.It added, “However, we affirm our readiness to hold further talks with Cleo County residents before the end of the month for anyone seeking peaceful dialogue and additional financial clarity and are open to any out-of-the-box solutions in favour of the residents. We have also promised our homeowners that any extra funds collected by the end of the year will be refunded to their respective maintenance accounts, since this has been a part of our ethos in the past as well,” the statement read.
