—Order— —This complaint under s. 12 of the Consumer Protection Act, 1986 (No. 68 of 1986) ("the Act") has been filed by the Lal Kothi Scheme Resident Association, Jyotinagar, Jaipur through its President against the Chairman, Rajasthan Housing Board and Secretary, Rajasthan Housing Board, on March 28, 1989. The complainant is a registered Association and registered with the Registrar of Companies (Registrar Cooperatives). Its registration No. being 233/1977-78. 2. It has been stated that Jyotinagar Colony (Lal Kothi Scheme, Jyotinagar) is the first residential colony of the State built by the Rajasthan Housing Board (RHB) on Flat system (Multistorey). It was opened for inhabitation sometime in 1974-75. It is said that there are about 300 flats located in 35 blocks. The status of each allottee is said to be of a lessee who is required to pay lease to the Housing Board (HB) every six months. The lessee is not allowed to undertake any sub-division, extension, alteration, sale and transfer of the flat. In every block there are certain common places, namely, stair case, side-walls, front and back wall Boundary walls and gates, common sanitary and water pipes besides a common park in the centre of the colony. It has been alleged that the RHB had promised to provide services for looking after and upkeep of the aforementioned common places through a Registered Agency (for short "RA"). According to the complainant this promise is contained in the RHB booklet (Ex. 1) "Scheme for specific Registration for intending purchasers of Houses/Flats ("the Scheme") under clause 2(viii) of the booklet. It is as follows : "In order to regulate the use of common portions and common services i.e. for maintenance and control of parks, staircase, compound-wall etc. a Registered Agency may be formed and the allottee/hirer may be required to become a member of that Registered Agency." 3. The RHB failed to form a RA despite many letters and reminders. In this connection photostat copies of letter No. 1208 dated 30-6-81 (Ex. 2), lot of writings in the Press (Ex. 3) directions from Ministry of Housing, Govt. of India (Ex. 4) and Minister of Housing, Rajasthan Government (Ex. 5) were produced. The lessees are said to have taken up the services of repair, upkeep and maintenance of common places in the flats by spending a lot of money from their pockets. 2), lot of writings in the Press (Ex. 3) directions from Ministry of Housing, Govt. of India (Ex. 4) and Minister of Housing, Rajasthan Government (Ex. 5) were produced. The lessees are said to have taken up the services of repair, upkeep and maintenance of common places in the flats by spending a lot of money from their pockets. All this was necessitated, for, without the repairs the flats would have been disfigured totally and it would have been difficult to live in the flats. The common park is also maintained by the residents. 4. The case of the complainant is that the cost of the land of the park and whatever infrastructure made available by R.H.B. in the colony have been borne by the lessees themselves and not by RHB. It has been alleged: "(i) that the RHB did neither form a Registered Agency nor it itself took any responsibility for up-keep the common places in the flats/ colony and thus defaulted in fulfilling the services it has promised to pro- vide to lessees; (ii) that to constant persuation from this Association and even from Govt. of India and also Minister of Housing, Rajasthan Govt. to the RHB, did not bring any relief to the lessees and; (iii) that Resident Engineer informed this Association that he was getting details of formation of such a Agency from Delhi was just a totally false assurance to the lessees." 5. As the RHB failed to render services as promised to the lessees of Jyotinagar colony in regard to upkeep/maintenance of common places in the flats, this complaint was filed praying that the RHB may be directed to pay 6.05 lakhs as detailed in page 4 of the complaint to the lessees of the colony and interest on this amount as well as cost of correspondence done during the last 10 years and to undertake the responsibility to upkeep the common places referred above in future on regular basis in the manner it is deemed fit. Additional requests regarding use of adulterated material and non-payment of interest by the RHB on the advance deposits were also made. 6. A version of the case was filed by the opposite-parties resisting the complaint on various grounds. It was averred that the provisions of the Act are not applicable. Additional requests regarding use of adulterated material and non-payment of interest by the RHB on the advance deposits were also made. 6. A version of the case was filed by the opposite-parties resisting the complaint on various grounds. It was averred that the provisions of the Act are not applicable. It was submitted that the RHB has allotted the fiats in the Lal Kothi Scheme either on the outright sale basis or on hire purchase basis. The flats were according to the opposite-parties not allotted on lease basis. It was denied that the RHB was under an obligation to maintain the common portions including common services as they were to be maintained by the allottees. Reference was made to the Rajasthan Housing Board (Disposal of Property) Regulations, 1970 ("the Regulations") to show that the RHB was not bound to maintain common portions which mean the portions of the premises which are in common use as gate way, enclosures, passages, corridors, staircase etc. after allotment and the allottees are required to maintain them at their own expense. It was submitted that as per clause 2(viii) of the Booklet (Ex. 1), the RHB is not under an obligation to form a RA and the allottees may for their own betterment form a RA. However, the RHB endeavoured to form a RA but the allottees were not unanimous on its formation. The loss claimed by the complainant was denied. The use of adulterated material was also seriously disputed. It was stated that advance amount is adjusted in the total cost of the house and there is no question of payment of interest on the advance deposit. It was mentioned that for the alleged services to be performed by RHB, the allottees had not paid any amount or charges and so free of charge service is not included in the service as defined in s. 2(l)(o) of the Act. 7. Rejoinder to the version of the case was filed by the complainant. It is dated 29-5-89. The pleas raised in the version of the case were denied. Certain new facts were mentioned in para 2 of the rejoinder. In the rejoinder the following prayer was made : 1. 7. Rejoinder to the version of the case was filed by the complainant. It is dated 29-5-89. The pleas raised in the version of the case were denied. Certain new facts were mentioned in para 2 of the rejoinder. In the rejoinder the following prayer was made : 1. The Rajasthan Housing Board may be directed to (i) undertake the responsibility of upkeep of common places in the flats/common park in future either through a registered agency or direct by itself "in future, (ii) to immediately start repair with white-washing etc. of the common places/pipes etc., (iii) pay the compensation for which the allottees have suffered. 2. Rajasthan Housing Board be directed to give interest as per F.D. rate admissible for 12-15 years deposits, and that; 3. A team of impartial engineers may be deputed to check the quality of material used in construction of flats. 8. The parties did not produce any oral evidence. Arguments were heard and concluded on 20-6-89. The complainant submitted documents etc. on 21-6-89 alongwith ends. A to F. In the forwarding letter it was wrongly mentioned that "as desired copy of some letters and other relevant documents in support of above are enclosed as follows." Only legible copy of Ex. 2 was required. The forwarding letter was brought and handed over by a peon who left immediately. We deprecate such a practice. The opposite-parties submitted citations of the provisions of the Act and Regulations, photostat copies of orders of the High Court passed, Writ Petitions. 9. The first question that arises for determinations whether the members of Lalkothi Scheme Resident Association on whose behalf the complaint has been filed are consumers within the meaning of s. 2(l)(d) of the Act and if so, whether the RHB renders any service as defined in s. 2(l)(o) of the Act. The relevant part of the definition of consumer is as follows : 2. (l)(d) "consumer" means any person who,— (i) ............. (ii) hires any services for a consideration which has been paid or promised or partly paid and partly promised, or under any system of deferred payment and includes any beneficiary of such services other than the person who hires the services for consideration, paid or promised, or partly paid and partly promised, or under any system of deferred payment, when such services are availed of with the approval of the first mentioned person;" 10. According to the definition a person (1) who hires any services and (2) pays consideration for services (3) the consideration may be paid or promised or partly paid and partly promised or under any system of deferred payment. In other words a person who hires any services for consideration is a consumer, "person" has been defined in s. 2(l)(m) of the Act and amongst others it includes every other association of persons whether registered under the Societies Registration Act, 1860 or not. The complainant is an association of persons. 11. Service has been defined in S. 2(l)(o) of the Act. It reads as under :— "(o) "service" means service of any description which is made available to potential users and includes the provision of facilities in connection with banking financing,, insurance, transport, processing, supply of electrical or other energy, board or lodging or both, entertainment, amusement or the purveying of news or other information of news or other information, but does not include the rendering of any service free of charge or under a contract of personal service;" It is a wide definition in as much as according to it service of any description that is made available to potential users is service within its meaning. It gives illustrations of various types of services. It however excludes service free of charge or under a contract of personal service. 12. "Deficiency" has been defined in s. 2(l)(g) of the Act. It is as follows :— "(g) "deficiency" means any fault, imperfection, shortcoming or inadequacy in the quality, nature and manner of performance which is required to be maintained by or under any law for the time being in force or has been undertaken to be performed by a person in pursuance of a contract or otherwise in relation to any service;" It means :-— (i) Fault, imperfection, shortcoming, or (ii) inadequacy in the quality, nature and manner of performance, (iii) which is required to be maintained by or under any law for the time-being in force, or (iv) which has been undertaken to be performed by a person in pursuance of a contract, or (v) otherwise in relation to any service. 13. Thus, we are called upon to decide whether the complainant has hired any services of the opposite parties for consideration and if so, whether the services suffer from deficiency, 14. 13. Thus, we are called upon to decide whether the complainant has hired any services of the opposite parties for consideration and if so, whether the services suffer from deficiency, 14. In order to determine this question we may notice the material clauses of the Scheme, clause (2) (iv) of the Scheme is as under : "(iv) The houses/flats shall be disposed of on outright sale basis and on hire-purchase basis in the ratio of 3:1 respectively. In the case of outright sale, the disposal price of the house minus the registration deposit, will be required to be deposited within 4 months of the allotment of the house. In the case of sale on hire-purchase basis, the successful applicants would be required to pay the hire-purchase price in equated monthly instalments of principal and interest as specified in the annexures. Note :—The ratio of 3:1 mentioned above and the No. of hire-purchase instalments specified in the annexure are only tentative. If arrangements for long-term loans materials, more houses may be disposed of under hire-purchase. The hire-purchase period may also be enhanced." 15. Regulation 2 of the Regulations deals with definitions, "Agency Agreement", "Allotment letter", "Allottee", "Common Portions", "Common services", "Conveyance deed", "Disposal price or Hire purchase", "Hire purchase or Hire purchase system", "Hire purchase tenancy agreement", "Registered Agency" and "Service charges" have been defined in Regulation 2 (2),(3), (4), (10),(11), (12), (13), (21), (22), (33) and (35) respectively. Terms and conditions of disposal of property are contained in chapter II of the Regulations. Regulation 6 deals with fixation of price. Regulations 9 and 10 of the Regulations deal with manner of payment of disposal price and manner of payment of Hire-purchase price respectively. Regulation 12 provides for monthly tenancy. Regulation 13 lays down that allottee/hirer has to enrol himself as a member of RA. Regulation 16 deals with the functions of hirer/registered agency. Regulations 17 and 18 provide for payment of rates/fees etc. and payment of charges for maintenance of roads etc. respectively. Regulation 19 says that purchaser/hirer is precluded from objecting proprietory circumstances. Regulation 20 is important. We may read it. "20. Administration of common portions/services by the Registered Agency. Maintenance, upkeep, running, control and regulation of the use of common portions and common services shall be the responsibility of the. and payment of charges for maintenance of roads etc. respectively. Regulation 19 says that purchaser/hirer is precluded from objecting proprietory circumstances. Regulation 20 is important. We may read it. "20. Administration of common portions/services by the Registered Agency. Maintenance, upkeep, running, control and regulation of the use of common portions and common services shall be the responsibility of the. registered agency, and it shall be the duty of such agency to attend to these common portions and common services in accordance with provisions of the relevant agreement. The charges for the purpose shall be payable to the Registered Agency by the allottee/hirers as provided in the relevant agreement." 16. Chapter III of the Regulations provides for procedure for disposal of property. Regulations 36 and 37 deal with handing over of possession of property (hire purchase) and handing over of possession of property (sale). Form of Application has been prescribed as provided in Regulation 27(ii). 17. It is submitted on behalf of the complainant that the allotment letters issued to members of the Lalkothi Scheme Resident Association, Jyoti-nagar clearly shows that there was consideration for outright sale or hire purchase. In some cases urban assessment was to be paid while in other cases one years money in advance, hire-purchase instalments etc. were to be paid. There was undoubtedly consideration for all these. 18. By Clause 2(viii) of the Scheme for maintenance and control of parks, stair case, compound wall the formation of RA was contemplated and the allottee/hirer is required to become a member of that RA. An agreement is also envisaged between RHB and Registered Agency in respect of common portions and common services as defined in Regulation 2(10) and (11) of the Regulations. Regulation 16 lays down that the hirer or the RA, as the case may be, shall be responsible for carrying out current as well as special repairs for maintaining common services at their own cost and in accordance with the provisions of the relevant agreement. Regulation 18 amongst others provides that common services and upkeep of common portions are to be attended by the RA, no levy of service charges by the Board are envisaged. The RA has been empowered for administration of common portions/services. All this has been stated to show that for common portions and common services, formation of RA was contemplated. Regulation 18 amongst others provides that common services and upkeep of common portions are to be attended by the RA, no levy of service charges by the Board are envisaged. The RA has been empowered for administration of common portions/services. All this has been stated to show that for common portions and common services, formation of RA was contemplated. The correspondence that has been placed on record by the complainant shows that several letters were written by it in this regard. The higher authorities asked the RHB to form the RA but nothing was done. We may quote relevant portion of letter Ex. 2 dated 30.6.81 written by Resident Engineer RHB Division I Jaipur to the President of Lalkothi Scheme Resident Association. "Kindly refer to your letter no. 19/481 dt. 12.5.81 regarding follow-up of the decisions taken during the meeting of 28-5-81. I have to inform you that since most of the points raised during the discussions were connected with the "Registered Society" to be formed for the allottees, since I am trying to get the details of formation and constitution of such registered society; I was not in a position to straightway write to you in this context. Recently one of Site Engineer has been sent to Delhi, specially for collecting the above information, the same shall accordingly be informed." 19. The RHB undertook to form at RA as provided in clause 2( viii) of the Scheme. This appears to be part of the contract of sale/hire purchase agreement. This service was to be made available to the hirers. In the case before us the question of rendering of service free of charge does not arise. There was deficiency of service on the part of RHB within the meaning of sec. 2(l)(g) of the Act as it failed to form RA. 20. We are, therefore, of the opinion that the members of the Lalkothi Scheme Resident Association (allottees/hirers) are consumers and the RHB was to render service to them by forming RA. 21. The complainant has hot placed any material on record to substantiate their claim for Rs. 6.05 lakhs as detailed in the complaint. The extent of loss has been calculated from the year 1978-79 i.e. for the last 10 years. We find it difficult to hold that the lessees have suffered as a result of non-fulfilling the services on the part of RHB. . 6.05 lakhs as detailed in the complaint. The extent of loss has been calculated from the year 1978-79 i.e. for the last 10 years. We find it difficult to hold that the lessees have suffered as a result of non-fulfilling the services on the part of RHB. . The complainant is not entitled to any compensation as claimed. 22. It is too late after about 15 years to raise a grievance that the RHB has used adulterated material in the construction of the flats, No protest or demur was made when possession was taken by the allottees /hirers. The prayer made by the complainant in this regard cannot be granted. 23. The claim for payment of interest is not tenable. The case of the complainant is that every allottee on hire-purchase basis is required to deposit as an advance to the extent of 5% of the cost of the house to be adjustable towards the cost of house at a later date. The defence taken by the opposite-parties is that RHB calculates prices which are to be changed (sic charged) from the allottee at the time of allotment keeping in view all the considerations and one of the consideration being on this account. All the advance amount is adjusted In the total cost of the house. This is one of the terms of the contract (agreement). The complainant is not entitled to any direction against the RHB to pay interest as per F.D. rate admissible for 12-15 years deposits. 24. Now coming to the question of formation of the RA, the RHB has stated that there was no obligation on its part to maintain services or to materialize the services or to form RA, still the RHB tried its best by providing assistance in order to form the RA by the allottees. To quote from the reply :— "So many times efforts were made but the allottees could not be unanimous on the formation of the Registered Agency although the Board was under no obligation. Some allottees desired that the Agency be formed colony-wise and some expressed that city-wise Agency should be formed." 25. It will not be a profitable task to make a deep probe in this regard in view of the fact that a RA was envisaged by the Scheme and it should have been constituted long before and a direction in this regard should now be given. It will not be a profitable task to make a deep probe in this regard in view of the fact that a RA was envisaged by the Scheme and it should have been constituted long before and a direction in this regard should now be given. 26. We direct the opposite-parties to form a Registered Agency as envisaged by clause 2(viii) of the Scheme within a period of three months from today and the allottee/hirer will be required to become a member of that RA. We hope and trust that the RA so formed will discharge its functions as provided in Regulations 16 and 20. The allottees/hirers shall pay charges etc. as provided in Regulations 17 and 18. The members of the Lalkothi Scheme Resident Association will extend the required cooperation and assistance to the opposite-parties for the compliance of the aforesaid direction so that RA may be formed. 27. This complaint succeeds only to this extent that the opposite-parties shall form the Registered Agency as ordered above within a period of three months from today. The other reliefs claimed by the complainant are disallowed. The complaint is decided as indicated above. 28. Order pronounced on July 25, 1989.