Admin: Set Up Dues Reminders and Escalation

Admin: set up dues reminders

Chasing maintenance is the least popular job on any committee, because the treasurer has to ask a neighbour for money and then sit next to them at the Diwali function.

Automating the ladder removes the awkwardness: escalation runs on dates, identically for every flat, rather than on someone's willingness to have a difficult conversation.

Before you start — get the policy adopted

Do not automate anything until the general body has adopted, in writing: the due date and grace period, the interest rate, the reminder schedule, what restrictions apply at what stage, and the hardship process.

This does two things. Every later action becomes the application of a rule the member themselves voted on. And it removes committee discretion, which is what makes selective enforcement possible.

Record it in the minutes.

Step 1: Open Maintenance billing, then Automation

Go to Admin → Maintenance billing, then select Automation. This keeps billing cycles, invoices, reminder settings, and the automation that supports them in one place.

Step 2: Configure the reminder ladder

A workable schedule:

Two design points. Reminders before the due date are worth more than reminders after it — most non-payment is forgetfulness, and preventing it is far cheaper than chasing. And escalate tone slowly; a first overdue notice written like a legal demand alienates residents who simply missed a date.

Step 3: Set the late-fee rule

Set the rule while creating the billing cycle: choose a flat amount or percentage, grace period, cadence, and an optional cap. Use only a rule your general body has adopted, subject to your state's bye-laws.

Two rules:

• Simple interest, not compound. Compounding maintenance arrears is a common and challengeable error.
• Accrues from the due date, not the bill date.

Interest shows as its own line on the bill, never folded into the maintenance figure. Members are entitled to see what they are charged and why.

Step 4: Apply it uniformly

Confirm the ladder applies to every flat, including committee members. Waiving interest for one member while charging another is the single most damaging thing a committee can do to its own authority.

Step 5: Set up hardship holds

Build in the ability to pause escalation for a specific flat with a recorded reason and a review date.

Genuine hardship — illness, job loss, bereavement, an elderly member on a fixed income — is real and needs a human decision. Recording it makes the pause a documented committee decision rather than a quiet favour.

Do not waive interest informally. Either the committee has authority under the bye-laws and does so on the record, or the general body decides.

Step 6: Review the arrears report monthly

Arrears age into 30/60/90+ buckets. Take it to every committee meeting and to the AGM.

The number that tells you most is how many flats are in the 90+ bucket:

• Wide, shallow arrears → a reminder problem, which automation fixes
• A handful of very old, very large arrears → a recovery problem, which reminders will never fix and which the committee must decide to address

What to automate, and what not to

Automate: bill delivery, pre-due reminders, overdue reminders on schedule, interest calculation, receipt issuance, the arrears report.

Do not automate: the phone call, a formal notice, or anything involving legal action. A machine-generated legal threat to a member who has been in hospital is how a solvable situation becomes a permanent grievance.

What you may not do

Regardless of arrears: do not cut water or electricity, do not restrict lift access, and do not publish a defaulter list on the notice board or in a WhatsApp group. All have been struck down, and the last is a privacy and defamation exposure with no recovery benefit.

Report arrears by flat number within the accounts at the general body instead.

Frequently asked questions

What interest rate can we charge on late maintenance? Whatever your bye-laws authorise and the general body has adopted, subject to your state cap — 21% per annum simple interest is the long-standing Maharashtra ceiling. Do not copy another society's figure.

Should interest be simple or compound? Simple. Compounding maintenance arrears is challengeable.

Can we pause reminders for a member in genuine difficulty? Yes — apply a hold with a recorded reason and a review date, so the concession is a documented committee decision.

Can we publish a defaulter list? Avoid it. Present arrears within the accounts at the general body. Public naming invites a privacy or defamation claim.

Must we accept a part payment? Yes. Accept it and apply it oldest-first under your written policy.

When should we escalate to the registrar? After the formal notice stage has passed without response or a payment arrangement — typically around 90 days — with a committee resolution authorising it and a clean paper trail.

Related: Dues reminders and escalation · Society defaulter policy · Due notice format and sample