India, July 17 -- If you pay monthly maintenance charges to your Residents' Welfare Association (RWA), do you become a consumer entitled to expect not just clean common areas but also a reasonably safe living environment? And if a dog attacks a resident within the housing society, can the RWA be held liable under consumer law for 'deficiency in service,' much like a developer that fails to deliver promised amenities or a restaurant or any service provider that falls short of its obligations?

These questions have come into focus after the District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission directed the Residents' Welfare Association (RWA) of Kendriya Vihar-II in Sector 82, Noida, to pay Rs.1 lakh in compensation to a resident whose four-year-...