Shivani Apartments @ Thiruvanmiyur, Chennai

Dear Members,

Happy to present the "SHIVANI NEWSLETTER" providing you an update about what all has been done in the last 2 quarters since the new Management Committee took over in the AGM 2015.

Hope you would find this informative and useful. Click at this link to access the News Letter

Dear Residents & Business Owners / Tenants,

We have completed one full quarter of carrying out the complete maintenance by ourselves after eliminating the external agency. This has proved to be a wise decision both operationally as well as financially. Hope you would agree that the transition has been event-less and have noticed the acceleration in maintenance activities in the last 4-5 months. While I would reserve the details for a later communication I would like you note and act on the following.

Registration of Complaint : From TODAY onward, please register your personal maintenance requirements in the Maintenance Register available at the SOA office / the watchman in the third block of Shivani. You can write common issues also in the same register. This would help the Secretary / Jt.Secretary to track all complaints and ensure that all are closed to your satisfaction. We strongly discourage repeated calls to Elumalai, our supervisor, as attending to calls has become a distraction.

The Workers : Muthu, the plumber cum electrician who is known to all has not been keeping well off late but now back to work. As mentioned in earlier we have backups and are geared up to meeting such situations. It appears that some of the members are concerned when Muthu is not seen around but rest assured that you will get a competent worker for regular Electrical and Plumbing works when you need. We recommend you to find qualified a person for AC repairs.

Prioritization : As you would easily agree, Common and ongoing maintenance activities will be have to be given priority over Individual requirement, especially as we have been doing several repair and installation activities. Usually, your requirement will be attended to the same day if registered in the morning. Certain plumbing work will be delayed as we might have to shut off main pipeline which can be done only in the afternoons.

Payment : We have advised a lower rate for individual requirements. However you should take care to make clear affront all the work involved and agree on the cost of labor and spares involved before asking them to proceed. The payment may please be made immediate and direct.

Thank you very much for your understanding and cooperation. Please do write to us if you have a suggestion to improve. Remember : you are a stakeholder in the SOA and not a customer ! So please do take part in helping ourselves.

Dear Residents & Business Owners / Tenants,

In 2012, the Shivani Generalbody voted for its Management Committee (MC) to take over the maintenance completely, and it was one of our best decisions. Despite starting to manage most of the maintenance with our own manager & employees, we continued to hire Ramaniyam Maintenance (RM) for certain work by paying them a fixed amount per month.

In the AGM 2015 it was resolved to replace them fully, after giving them the option to adhere to a new model of work.

1. RM was providing man power for On-demand work (Electrical, Plumbing, carpentry repairs, drainage unblocking) and Quarterly schedule (Tank / Sump / STP cleaning, Cob-web cleaning)

2. They would attend to only very petty problems and reluctant to take up various small civil repairs, and the like.

3. They had a chronic man power shortage and could not provide manpower as per our need. Remediation in case of escalation was absent.

4. We offered that they can work on a 'pay per work' basis, as the MC over the last 4 years felt that they amount paid was far higher than the value derived. They have refused our offer.

Well, we would be replacing them completely effective 1st July, 2015.

In the new Model :

a. We have a plumber / electrician who would do work on demand for common maintenance. Has worked with us earlier and hence MC considers him dependable.

b. For scheduled periodic work, alternate arrangements have been made.

Requirements of Individual Households / Businesses :

c. For household electrical / plumbing repairs he will be available on a ‘pay-per-work’ basis just as before. Available for businesses also.

d. Residents would continue to report requests to our Manager as usual. No change in that.

e. He would carry a Shivani Identification card with Photograph. Initially would be introduced and coordinated by Elumalai to ensure that everything is smooth.

d. You can pay him directly and a receipt will be issued after your sign your satisfaction.

The Managing Committee has done this in the interest of getting the best services for the money we spend, and to break away from the constraint we had till now. While it is natural for some of you to worry about possible disruptions, we would like to assure you that it has been take care of. After all, several major tasks and most of the maintenance activities in the last 5-6 years were done by various MCs and not by RM.

Last word : It is encouraging to note that a couple of businesses have already paid the next quarter charges, when multiple follow ups were the norm earlier. The members of the MC is running the association as a service. Requesting the Businesses premise owners to ensure that the maintenance charges are paid quarterly (not monthly) along with arrears on a timely basis. That would save us time & effort and encourage us to do even better.

Dear Shivani Residents & Business Tenants,

This is a reminder for paying the maintenance charges for the July-Sep quarter. Those who have already paid for the entire year (28 members) please ignore this - thanks to you. I shall ensure that you will not get this reminder in the next quarter.

1. Pay by NEFT : You might be able to help the SOA MC save time by transferring the payments through NEFT - over 65 of you are still paying through cheques. NEFT will help avoiding bank charges for using too many cheques.

NAME OF THE ACCOUNT ; SHIVANI OWNERS ASSOCIATION

ACCOUNT NO : 1472 01 00000 7821

IFS CODE : IOBA 0001472

BRANCH NAME : INDIAN OVERSEAS BANK, VALMIKI NAGAR

Once you had done through NEFT please send the screen shot to [email protected]

2. Pay by 10th JULY : As resolved in the AGM of July 29, 2012 all residents and business are required to pay the charges by the 10th day of the first month of every quarter for the entire quarter. Requesting your kind cooperation by complying with this. (Resolution-6: Resolved that residents who pay after 10th of first month of every quarter needs to pay a fine of Rs 100 and beyond 15th needs to pay Rs. 100 plus Rs. 50 per day of default, not exceeding Rs. 1000 in total)

3. DISCOUNT for Annual Payment : Some of you have sent annual payment in May and June by deducting 4% discount. As per the AGM resolution you are eligible for 4% discount only if you pay by 7th April. Please pay withheld discount amount immediately to us. (Resolution-7: Resolved that the payment of the annual maintenance charges in advance will entail a member a discount of 4% provided the payment was received before 7th April).

4. Issue of RECEIPTS: We have been issuing a numbered receipt only to those who need and request for others we provide a printed demand notice at the beginning of the quarter which is also deemed as a receipt. If you need a separate receipt please send a request to this mail id.

5. Period for ANNUAL PAYMENT : Henceforth annual payment is to be made for the April - March period only. Payments spanning two financial years is to be avoided.

6. Let out Premises : Some of the owners are delaying payments for the months when their property is vacant. Whether you have a tenant or not, the association incurs expenses for running common maintenance services. Please comply with the payment requirements as mentioned above.

7. TDS on payments : By consulting a qualified Chartered Accountant, we have established that the payment by Residents and Business Owners / Tenants are not subject to TDS even when the amount exceeds Rs5,000 per month. The TDS in the past were based on incorrect grounds.

Thanks to the majority who always pay on time or in advance.

I have posted the first in a new series of posts on Cutting your Electricity Bill in the blog of Shivani Website : http://shivani-apts.webs.com/apps/forums/show/2973789-general-discussion.

Minutes of AGM and Audited Accounts of the Shivani Owners' Association held on 10th May 2015 can be read by clicking here