Parking Allotment Must Now Go Through the General Body, Not the Committee Alone

Parking is one of the most common sources of member grievances and Co-operative Court disputes in housing societies, precisely because allotment decisions made at committee level, without a transparent, member-approved process, create a real or perceived risk of favouritism, particularly where parking is scarce relative to the number of flats.

Routing the decision through the General Body creates a transparent, member-approved policy that is harder to challenge after the fact and harder to credibly allege bias about, since the criteria were put to a vote rather than decided behind closed doors.

The rule is not fully detailed in the sources available for this post on exactly how broadly "parking allotment" is defined, whether it covers only the overarching policy and criteria, or every individual allotment decision as well. Until the Registrar's office or your society's legal advisor clarifies this for your specific situation, the safer approach is to route both the parking policy itself and any specific space allocations through General Body approval.

A practical path to compliance:

• Draft or review your society's written parking allotment policy, covering eligibility criteria, priority order (first-come, seniority, one spot per flat, and so on), waitlist handling, and any charges for additional or premium spots.
• Place the policy as a formal agenda item at the next GBM or AGM and pass it by resolution.
• Record the approved policy in the minutes and keep it available for members to refer to.
• Route any future changes to the policy through the General Body again, rather than through a committee decision alone.
• If parking has been allotted informally in the past, consider placing a ratification resolution before the next GBM to put existing allotments on a clean, documented footing.

Day-to-day operational matters, such as rotating visitor parking or handling temporary use requests, are not necessarily what this rule is targeting, the focus appears to be on who gets a fixed, ongoing parking allotment, not routine housekeeping decisions. If your society is unsure where the line falls for a specific situation, confirm with the Registrar's office rather than assuming either way.