New MCS Rules: Parking Allotment in Housing Societies Must Go to General Body, Not Committee

The Maharashtra Co-operative Societies (Amendment) Rules, 2026, notified on 18 June 2026 and effective from 30 June, place the decision on how car parking spaces are allotted within a housing society squarely with the General Body of members. Previously, many societies left this decision to the managing committee, which led to frequent disputes over favouritism, unequal allocation, and lack of transparency in who got covered, open, or stack parking slots.

What the rule changes

Under the new framework inserted as Chapter XI-B of the Maharashtra Co-operative Societies Rules, 1961, the General Body — meaning all members voting at a general meeting, not just the managing committee — must approve both the allotment of parking spaces among members and the rate of any parking charge levied for it. A managing committee can still handle day-to-day administration of parking, such as issuing stickers or maintaining a waiting list, but it cannot unilaterally decide who gets which spot or introduce a new parking charge without General Body approval.

Why this matters

Parking disputes are among the most common sources of litigation and Registrar complaints in Maharashtra's housing societies, particularly in older buildings where the number of vehicles far exceeds available slots. By shifting the allotment decision to the General Body, the rule is meant to make the process more transparent and harder for a committee to challenge on grounds of bias, while also giving individual members a formal vote on how a scarce common resource is shared.

What this means for housing societies

• Any parking allotment policy currently decided or changed only by the managing committee should be placed before the General Body for ratification at the next general meeting to avoid it being challenged as invalid.
• Societies planning to introduce or revise parking charges must pass the rate through a General Body resolution rather than a committee circular.
• Waiting-list or lottery systems for allotting scarce parking slots should be documented and adopted by the General Body so the criteria are on record and consistently applied.
• Members who believe a committee allotted parking arbitrarily now have stronger grounds to seek a review, since the rule itself requires General Body approval.

Societies due to hold their AGM or a special general meeting in the coming months should add parking allotment and charges as a formal agenda item to bring existing practice in line with the amended rules, since committee-only decisions taken after 30 June 2026 may not hold up if challenged before the Registrar or the Co-operative Court.