A refusal is rarely the end of the matter. Your first step is to ask the committee to record its decision, and the reason for it, in writing. Most refusals come down to one of four things: doubt about electrical capacity, worry about cost and liability, fear of setting an unfair precedent, or a gap in how the request was made. Each needs a different answer. Work out which one you are actually facing, gather the evidence that closes that specific gap, then bring a revised proposal back at the right forum and the right time.
Get the refusal in writing first
A verbal no in a corridor is impossible to work with: you cannot answer an objection you cannot quote. Write a short, unemotional note to the secretary: thank the committee, say you understand the request was not approved, ask for the recorded reason, and ask whether the decision was minuted.
If nothing comes after a fortnight, send one reminder, then write again summarising what you understood the reason to be and inviting correction. Silence against a written summary is itself a record. Keep everything in one thread; the committee may change before you re-propose, and your file becomes the record.
Four reasons committees refuse
A managing committee is a group of unpaid neighbours asked to authorise something they cannot verify, in a building they are collectively responsible for. What looks like hostility is usually an unanswered question.
Electrical capacity
This can be a real constraint, and it is often the least tested: someone believes the building cannot take the extra load, but nobody has checked. Understanding how sanctioned load relates to apartment EV charging lets you use the same terms as the society's electrician, and whether EVs really overload a building helps separate a real constraint from a rumour.
Cost and liability
The committee is imagining an unbudgeted expense and an unclear line of responsibility. Who pays for the cable run? Who repairs it in three years? If your proposal did not answer that, no was the safe reply for them. Settle who pays for apartment EV-charger wiring before asking again.
Fairness and precedent
This one is seldom stated plainly. If they approve your point in your stilt slot, what happens when eight more residents ask, and what about the resident with no allotted parking? A one-off permission creates a queue nobody has designed, so committees refuse rather than set policy by accident.
Procedure
Sometimes the substance was never reached: the request arrived by message rather than by letter, or fell outside what the committee believes it can authorise alone. This is the most fixable refusal, and the easiest to mistake for rejection on merits.
Match the evidence to the objection
Once you know your bucket, the work narrows. Do not answer all four objections at once; that reads as defensive.
| Stated reason | What it usually means | Evidence that closes it | Where it comes from |
|---|---|---|---|
| "The building cannot take the load" | Nobody has measured anything | A written assessment of supply, circuit, protection and earthing | A licensed electrician on site |
| "It will cost the society money" | No budget line, no clarity on who pays | An itemised undertaking that you fund installation, metering and repair | Your quotation; society accounts |
| "Everyone will want one" | Policy is being set through one approval | A general policy treating all applicants identically | Your draft, refined with the committee |
| "Insurance and fire risk" | An unquantified worry with no owner | What the cover says, plus siting and housekeeping rules | The society's insurer; a fire-safety review |
| "Not for the committee to decide" | A procedural boundary, not a rejection | A properly framed agenda item for the general body | Your by-laws; the secretary |
Your view that the wiring is fine carries no weight; a dated report from a licensed electrician who has walked the basement carries a great deal. Read what an electrician checks in a site assessment so you commission the right thing. Anything touching wiring, load, earthing, protection or fire must be assessed on site for your building, and a committee is right to insist on that.
Re-propose at the right forum and the right time
Timing does more work than argument. A committee that has just refused something will not reverse itself a fortnight later; that would make the first decision look careless. Give it a gap, and new information.
Then work out which forum you need. A private point in an allotted slot may sit within the committee's authority. A shared point on common property, a change to common infrastructure, or a policy binding on all residents usually does not, and pushing those at committee level produces the same procedural no. If the answer is the general body, getting EV charging onto the AGM agenda takes notice periods, a written resolution and quiet groundwork beforehand.
Re-propose as policy, not as a personal favour
The strongest second attempt is broader than the first. Instead of "please allow me a charging point", propose the framework the society needs anyway: who may apply, who inspects, who pays, how consumption is metered, and what happens when a flat changes hands. A clause-by-clause walkthrough of a society EV-charging policy shows the shape of that document, and the choice between sub-meter and smart-charger billing is one decision they will want settled. Committees approve rules more readily than they approve people.
A concrete re-proposal checklist
- The written refusal and its stated reason, quoted at the top.
- A dated electrician's report naming the circuit rating, protective device and earthing.
- A cost split showing which items you pay for and which touch society funds.
- The metering method, and what a month's charging adds to the bill it lands on.
- The cable route, and how it is protected where vehicles and people pass.
- A one-page draft policy that would apply identically to the next ten applicants.
- A named contact for maintenance and a response time if the unit must be isolated.
- The forum you are asking for: committee approval, or a general body resolution.
Keep the covering note to one page; annexures can be long, the ask must be short. Prepare for pushback, because the objections raised in societies tend to repeat.
What to do while you wait
You may be months from a decision and still need to charge. Handling the gap well also shows good faith.
Public and workplace charging can carry you through, at a cost you should calculate rather than assume. Take the per-unit rate on your own electricity bill, take the per-unit rate the public point displays before you plug in, and multiply the difference by the units your car uses in a month. Suppose your own bill works out to ₹9 per unit, the public point asks ₹21, and the car draws 120 units a month — substitute all three figures with your own — the gap costs you ₹1,440 a month. Take both rates from your own bill and from the charger's display.
A portable charger on an existing socket is the common fallback, but that socket, its circuit and its earthing were not installed with hours of continuous draw in mind. Have an electrician confirm they are suitable, and read the comparison of portable chargers versus a fixed wall-box to see what you trade away. Tenants have a different position again, covered in the guide to charging when you rent.
Use the wait to build support quietly. Find the other EV owners, and the residents a few months from buying. A second and third applicant changes the arithmetic, because the request stops being one person's convenience. That is when a common charging station becomes the easier proposal.
When to accept a no for this year
Some refusals should be accepted for a cycle. If the building has no spare capacity until the supply is enhanced, or the parking is unallotted and no fair allocation exists, or the committee's term ends in two months, pushing now spends goodwill you will need later.
Accepting gracefully is a tactic, not a surrender. Say you understand the position, thank the committee, and ask one question: what would need to be true for this to be approved. That converts a closed decision into a list of conditions, and conditions can be worked on. Then set a reminder two months before the next AGM notice.
What you should not do is install anything without permission, quietly tap a common socket, or run a cable across a corridor at night. That ends the conversation permanently and hands every future objector the example they wanted.
Common questions
Can my society legally refuse an EV charger in my own parking slot?
Rules differ by state, by society type and by your own by-laws, so nobody can tell you from a distance what applies to you. In many societies the common electrical infrastructure and the common areas are the society's to manage, and a parking slot is allotted for use rather than owned outright, but your own by-laws and allotment documents are what settle it for you. Read them, and take them to an appropriate local professional if you think the refusal exceeds the committee's powers.
Should I write to the committee or wait for the AGM?
Write first, in every case. A letter creates the record, forces a stated reason, and often resolves matters without a general body meeting. Save the AGM for what needs it: policy binding on everyone, spending from society funds, or changes to common infrastructure.
What if the committee simply ignores my letters?
Send one reminder, then a second letter summarising your understanding and inviting correction within a stated period, and keep every copy. Check your society's by-laws for the route a resident can use to place an item before the general body directly, and for the notice it requires.
How long should I wait before asking again?
Long enough for something to have changed, which usually means one to two quarters: new evidence, a fresh report, more residents joining the request, or a new committee. The exception is a procedural refusal. If the request was out of order or late, resubmit it correctly as soon as the next window opens.
Is it worth paying for an electrician's report before I have approval?
Usually yes. It is a modest cost against the value of the charging point, and the one item that turns a debate about opinions into a decision about facts. Ask for a written, dated and signed report covering the supply position, the proposed circuit, protection and earthing.
Ask the committee first whether the society already works with an electrician, because a report from someone they trust carries more weight.