In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires,-
[(a) "apartment" whether called block, chamber, dwelling unit, flat, office, showroom, shop, godown, premises, suit, tenement, unit or by any other name, means a separate and self-contained part of any immovable property, including one or more rooms or enclosed spaces, located on one or more floors or any part thereof, in a building or on a plot of land, used or intended to be used for any residential or commercial use such as residence, office, shop, showroom or godown or for carrying on any business, occupation, profession or trade, or for any other type of use ancillary to the purpose specified ;]
(b) "apartment owner" means the person or persons owning an apartment and an undivided interest in the common areas and facilities in the percentage specified and established in the Declaration ;
(c) "apartment number" means the number, letter, or combination thereof designating the apartment in the Declaration ;
(d) "Association of Apartment Owners" means all of the apartment owners acting as a group in accordance with the bye-laws and Declaration ;
(e) "building" means a building containing five or more apartments, or two or more buildings, each containing two or more apartments, with a total of five or more apartments for all such buildings, and comprising a part of the property ;
(f) "common areas and facilities", unless otherwise provided in the Declaration or lawful amendments thereto, means-
(1) the land on which the building is located ;
(2) the foundations, columns, girders, beams, supports, main walls, roofs, halls, corridors, lobbies, stairs, stair-ways, fire-escapes and entrances and exists of the building ;
(3) the basements, cellars, yards, gardens, parking areas and storage spaces ;
(4) the premises for the lodging of janitors or persons employed for the management of the property ;
(5) installations of central services, such as power, light, gas, hot and cold water, heating, refrigeration, air conditioning and incinerating ;
(6) the elevators, tanks, pumps, motors, fans, compressors, ducts and in general all apparatus and installations existing for common use ;
(7) such community and commercial facilities as may be provided for in the Declaration ; and
(8) all other parts of the property necessary or convenient to its existence, maintenance and safety, or normally in common use ;
(g) "common expenses" means,-
(1) all sums lawfully assessed against the apartment owners by the Association of Apartment Owners ;
(2) expenses of administration, maintenance, repair or replacement of the common areas and facilities ;
(3) expenses agreed upon as common expenses by the Association of Apartment Owners ;
(4) expenses declared as common expenses by the provisions of this Act, or by the Declaration or the bye-laws ;
(h) "common profits" means the balance of all income, rents, profits and revenues from the common areas and facilities remaining after the deduction of the common expenses ;
[(i) "Competent authority",-
(1) in relation to buildings constructed or to be constructed by the Housing and Area Development Authority established under section 3, or a Housing and Area Development Board established under section 18 of the Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Act, 1976 (Mah. XXVIII of 1977), or by a company, means the Deputy Chief Engineer or the officer referred to in sub-section (2) of section 7 of the Maharashtra Ownership Flats (Regulation of the promotion of construction, sale, management and transfer) Act, 1963 (Mah. XLV of 1963) ; and
(2) in any other case, means the Registrar of Co-operative Societies as defined in the Maharashtra Co-operative Societies Act, 1960 (Mah. XXIV of 1961) ;]
[(i-1) "Co-operative Court" means the Co-operative Court constituted under Maharashtra Co-operative Societies Act, 1960 (Mah. XXIV of 1961) ;
(j) "Declaration" means the instrument by which the property is submitted to the provisions of this Act, [as provided by section 2], and such Declaration as from time to time may be lawfully amended ;
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(m) "joint family" means an undivided Hindu family, and in the case of other persons, a group or unit, the members of which are by custom joint in possession or residence ;
(n) "limited common areas and facilities" means those common areas and facilities designated in the Declaration as reserved for use of certain apartment or apartments to the exclusion of the other apartments ;
(o) "majority" or "majority of apartment owners" means the apartment owners with 51 per cent. or more of the votes in accordance with the percentages assigned in the Declaration to the apartments for voting purposes ;
(p) "person" includes a joint family ;
(q) "prescribed" means prescribed by rules made under this Act ;
(r) "property" means the land, the building, all improvements and structures thereon, * * * and all easements, rights and appurtenances belonging thereto, and all articles of personal property intended for use in connection therewith, which have been, or are intended to be, submitted to the provisions of this Act.
[(s) "Registrar" means a person appointed to be the Registrar of Co-operative Societies under the provisions of the Maharashtra Co-operative Societies Act, 1960 (Mah. XXIV of 1961);]