Laws Applicable to Co-Operative Society

The Cooperative Societies Act, 1912 expanded the sphere of cooperation between its members and provided for supervision by central organization. A cooperative society, which has its object the promotion of the economic interests of its members in accordance with the co-operative principles may be registered with limited or unlimited liability by filing application to the registering authority with requisite documents to be submitted by them
A Co-operative Society has to conduct itself as per the following listed below:
1. Co-operative Societies Act under which the same is registered whether it be under state Act or Central Act.
2. Co-operative Societies rules made there under whether it be central or state rules
3. Bye-laws approved by the registrar at the time of registration and amendments made from time to time and approved by the registrar, these bye-laws have to be formed by the concerned members themselves and present it to the registration authority for its approval.
4. Notification and Orders by the concerned Government
The following steps have to be followed while forming a Co-operative society, they are
Step 1: Ten Individuals together who are desirous of forming a Society
To form a society, law mandates that 10 members minimum must show intention to be part of the society having same aim and objective to be achieved through the society for their mutual benefit and thereby be desirous to be part of it.
Step 2: Provisional Committee to select Chief Promoter
Once a group of individuals have a desire to form a society the next step should be there must be a provisional committee of which everyone is part of and all of them should by mutual consent or by majority whichever their prefer must choose a person who will be a chief promoter of the society which is going to be formed by them.

Step 3: A Name for the Society has to be selected
Thereafter once a chief promoter is selected by set of individuals among them, they have to select a name for the co-operative society which they wish to form
Step 4: Application has to be made to the Registration Authority
Once the name of the society is selected by the members then they have to make a application to the registration authority stating that they have a intention to form a society and the name of the society has to be given to the authority for its approval and registering authority has to confirm that name is in conformity with laws and issue a confirmation certificate to the members. Then when the members get their name approval from the authority it is valid for 3 months from the date of approval.
Step 5: entrance fees and share capital
Thereafter once name approval comes from the concerned authority, the entrance fee and the share capital must be collected from the concerned prospective members to meet the statutory requirements under law and it can be prescribed by the members themselves or society act mandates certain fees to be paid by them.
Step 6: Bank Account
Thereafter once the prescribed fee and share capital is collect from the prospective members, then as per the directions of the registering authority promoter has to open a bank account in the name of the society and deposit the said fees and share capital in that account and a certificate has to be obtained from the bank to that effect
Step 7: Application for registration
Once the bank formalities are completed then the promoter has to apply for the society formation to the registration authority and it has to be accompanied with set of documents, they are
Form No. A in quadruplicate signed by 90% of the promoter members
1. List of promoter members
2. Bank Certificate
3. Detailed explanation of working of the society.
4. Four copies of proposed bye-laws of the society.
5. Proof of payment of registration charges.
6. other documents such as affidavits, indemnity bonds, any documents specified by the Registrar also have to be submitted.
All these documents have to be submitted at the time of applying for registration of the society to the registering authority and the authority after it is satisfied with the documents submitted to it has to apply its mind to whether or not to register the said society.
Step 8: Registrar has to acknowledge
After the submission of the said documents has mentioned in step 7, the registrar of that municipal ward has to enter the particulars in the book called the “register of Application” which is generally specified in form B and give it a serial number to the application. Thereafter the registrar has to issue a receipt to that effect and give it to prospective members to know the status of the application when it is pending.
Then the registrar after perusal of the records submitted to him/her has to make a decision whether has to issue a certificate of registration or not and if there are any discrepancies noticed then he/she has to inform the members of the same and get it rectified if any.
Step 9: Registration
Last step is that the registering authority after being satisfied with the documents meeting the legal requirements will notify the registration of the society in the official gazette mentioned by the state or central government and should issue the registration certificate of the society and give it to the members of the society.
Conclusion
In India, Co-operative Societies were regarded as ideal instruments to motivate the people to come together and help themselves in the process of eliminating the unscrupulous middlemen making a huge profit at the expense of the society.
The main guiding factor if an individual or group of individuals want to form a society must be whether all the concerned members have common goal to achieve or not, it is important factor because only when they share common desire or intention then only society is desirable otherwise the whole purpose of forming a society will be defeated.
Societies like any other business structure come with certain advantages and disadvantages, they are:
Advantages
• Cooperative stores supply quality goods unlike other shops wherein adulterated foods maybe given to its consumers and thus saved them from adulteration and other malpractices.
• As consumers or members of the society are the owners and managers of such stores, genuine requirements of the majority of consumers can be met. In other words, goods required by a majority of the customers or members of the society are always dealt by such stores.
• Cooperative societies are an important form of democratic business enterprise because ownership is not vested in one person completely so as a result, no single group can secure control over the organization.
Disadvantages
• It only caters to the needs of small and medium-income groups so when there are large group with higher economic interest then it is preferable to choose another business model.
• There is much dependence on the honesty, integrity and loyalty of members and workers and once there are trust issues between the members it is hard to transact business thereafter.
• It is limited to certain objectives hence profits are minimal.
• Management of society usually rests in the hands of people with less managerial experience due to which society will suffer and many do not invest in hiring professionals to handle the society due to lack of funds or interest so henceforth growth of the society maybe put to stake by its own members.

Laws Applicable to Co-Operative Society

The Cooperative Societies Act, 1912 expanded the sphere of cooperation between its members and provided for supervision by central organization. A cooperative society, which has its object the promotion of the economic interests of its members in accordance with the co-operative principles may be registered with limited or unlimited liability by filing application to the registering authority with requisite documents to be submitted by them
A Co-operative Society has to conduct itself as per the following listed below:
1. Co-operative Societies Act under which the same is registered whether it be under state Act or Central Act.
2. Co-operative Societies rules made there under whether it be central or state rules
3. Bye-laws approved by the registrar at the time of registration and amendments made from time to time and approved by the registrar, these bye-laws have to be formed by the concerned members themselves and present it to the registration authority for its approval.
4. Notification and Orders by the concerned Government
The following steps have to be followed while forming a Co-operative society, they are
Step 1: Ten Individuals together who are desirous of forming a Society
To form a society, law mandates that 10 members minimum must show intention to be part of the society having same aim and objective to be achieved through the society for their mutual benefit and thereby be desirous to be part of it.
Step 2: Provisional Committee to select Chief Promoter
Once a group of individuals have a desire to form a society the next step should be there must be a provisional committee of which everyone is part of and all of them should by mutual consent or by majority whichever their prefer must choose a person who will be a chief promoter of the society which is going to be formed by them.

Step 3: A Name for the Society has to be selected
Thereafter once a chief promoter is selected by set of individuals among them, they have to select a name for the co-operative society which they wish to form
Step 4: Application has to be made to the Registration Authority
Once the name of the society is selected by the members then they have to make a application to the registration authority stating that they have a intention to form a society and the name of the society has to be given to the authority for its approval and registering authority has to confirm that name is in conformity with laws and issue a confirmation certificate to the members. Then when the members get their name approval from the authority it is valid for 3 months from the date of approval.
Step 5: entrance fees and share capital
Thereafter once name approval comes from the concerned authority, the entrance fee and the share capital must be collected from the concerned prospective members to meet the statutory requirements under law and it can be prescribed by the members themselves or society act mandates certain fees to be paid by them.
Step 6: Bank Account
Thereafter once the prescribed fee and share capital is collect from the prospective members, then as per the directions of the registering authority promoter has to open a bank account in the name of the society and deposit the said fees and share capital in that account and a certificate has to be obtained from the bank to that effect
Step 7: Application for registration
Once the bank formalities are completed then the promoter has to apply for the society formation to the registration authority and it has to be accompanied with set of documents, they are
Form No. A in quadruplicate signed by 90% of the promoter members
1. List of promoter members
2. Bank Certificate
3. Detailed explanation of working of the society.
4. Four copies of proposed bye-laws of the society.
5. Proof of payment of registration charges.
6. other documents such as affidavits, indemnity bonds, any documents specified by the Registrar also have to be submitted.
All these documents have to be submitted at the time of applying for registration of the society to the registering authority and the authority after it is satisfied with the documents submitted to it has to apply its mind to whether or not to register the said society.
Step 8: Registrar has to acknowledge
After the submission of the said documents has mentioned in step 7, the registrar of that municipal ward has to enter the particulars in the book called the “register of Application” which is generally specified in form B and give it a serial number to the application. Thereafter the registrar has to issue a receipt to that effect and give it to prospective members to know the status of the application when it is pending.
Then the registrar after perusal of the records submitted to him/her has to make a decision whether has to issue a certificate of registration or not and if there are any discrepancies noticed then he/she has to inform the members of the same and get it rectified if any.
Step 9: Registration
Last step is that the registering authority after being satisfied with the documents meeting the legal requirements will notify the registration of the society in the official gazette mentioned by the state or central government and should issue the registration certificate of the society and give it to the members of the society.
Conclusion
In India, Co-operative Societies were regarded as ideal instruments to motivate the people to come together and help themselves in the process of eliminating the unscrupulous middlemen making a huge profit at the expense of the society.
The main guiding factor if an individual or group of individuals want to form a society must be whether all the concerned members have common goal to achieve or not, it is important factor because only when they share common desire or intention then only society is desirable otherwise the whole purpose of forming a society will be defeated.
Societies like any other business structure come with certain advantages and disadvantages, they are:
Advantages
• Cooperative stores supply quality goods unlike other shops wherein adulterated foods maybe given to its consumers and thus saved them from adulteration and other malpractices.
• As consumers or members of the society are the owners and managers of such stores, genuine requirements of the majority of consumers can be met. In other words, goods required by a majority of the customers or members of the society are always dealt by such stores.
• Cooperative societies are an important form of democratic business enterprise because ownership is not vested in one person completely so as a result, no single group can secure control over the organization.
Disadvantages
• It only caters to the needs of small and medium-income groups so when there are large group with higher economic interest then it is preferable to choose another business model.
• There is much dependence on the honesty, integrity and loyalty of members and workers and once there are trust issues between the members it is hard to transact business thereafter.
• It is limited to certain objectives hence profits are minimal.
• Management of society usually rests in the hands of people with less managerial experience due to which society will suffer and many do not invest in hiring professionals to handle the society due to lack of funds or interest so henceforth growth of the society maybe put to stake by its own members.

The Cooperative Societies Act, 1912 expanded the sphere of cooperation between its members and provided for supervision by central organization. A cooperative society, which has its object the promotion of the economic interests of its members in accordance with the co-operative principles may be registered with limited or unlimited liability by filing application to the registering authority with requisite documents to be submitted by them
A Co-operative Society has to conduct itself as per the following listed below:
1. Co-operative Societies Act under which the same is registered whether it be under state Act or Central Act.
2. Co-operative Societies rules made there under whether it be central or state rules
3. Bye-laws approved by the registrar at the time of registration and amendments made from time to time and approved by the registrar, these bye-laws have to be formed by the concerned members themselves and present it to the registration authority for its approval.
4. Notification and Orders by the concerned Government
The following steps have to be followed while forming a Co-operative society, they are
Step 1: Ten Individuals together who are desirous of forming a Society
To form a society, law mandates that 10 members minimum must show intention to be part of the society having same aim and objective to be achieved through the society for their mutual benefit and thereby be desirous to be part of it.
Step 2: Provisional Committee to select Chief Promoter
Once a group of individuals have a desire to form a society the next step should be there must be a provisional committee of which everyone is part of and all of them should by mutual consent or by majority whichever their prefer must choose a person who will be a chief promoter of the society which is going to be formed by them.

Step 3: A Name for the Society has to be selected
Thereafter once a chief promoter is selected by set of individuals among them, they have to select a name for the co-operative society which they wish to form
Step 4: Application has to be made to the Registration Authority
Once the name of the society is selected by the members then they have to make a application to the registration authority stating that they have a intention to form a society and the name of the society has to be given to the authority for its approval and registering authority has to confirm that name is in conformity with laws and issue a confirmation certificate to the members. Then when the members get their name approval from the authority it is valid for 3 months from the date of approval.
Step 5: entrance fees and share capital
Thereafter once name approval comes from the concerned authority, the entrance fee and the share capital must be collected from the concerned prospective members to meet the statutory requirements under law and it can be prescribed by the members themselves or society act mandates certain fees to be paid by them.
Step 6: Bank Account
Thereafter once the prescribed fee and share capital is collect from the prospective members, then as per the directions of the registering authority promoter has to open a bank account in the name of the society and deposit the said fees and share capital in that account and a certificate has to be obtained from the bank to that effect
Step 7: Application for registration
Once the bank formalities are completed then the promoter has to apply for the society formation to the registration authority and it has to be accompanied with set of documents, they are
Form No. A in quadruplicate signed by 90% of the promoter members
1. List of promoter members
2. Bank Certificate
3. Detailed explanation of working of the society.
4. Four copies of proposed bye-laws of the society.
5. Proof of payment of registration charges.
6. other documents such as affidavits, indemnity bonds, any documents specified by the Registrar also have to be submitted.
All these documents have to be submitted at the time of applying for registration of the society to the registering authority and the authority after it is satisfied with the documents submitted to it has to apply its mind to whether or not to register the said society.
Step 8: Registrar has to acknowledge
After the submission of the said documents has mentioned in step 7, the registrar of that municipal ward has to enter the particulars in the book called the “register of Application” which is generally specified in form B and give it a serial number to the application. Thereafter the registrar has to issue a receipt to that effect and give it to prospective members to know the status of the application when it is pending.
Then the registrar after perusal of the records submitted to him/her has to make a decision whether has to issue a certificate of registration or not and if there are any discrepancies noticed then he/she has to inform the members of the same and get it rectified if any.
Step 9: Registration
Last step is that the registering authority after being satisfied with the documents meeting the legal requirements will notify the registration of the society in the official gazette mentioned by the state or central government and should issue the registration certificate of the society and give it to the members of the society.
Conclusion
In India, Co-operative Societies were regarded as ideal instruments to motivate the people to come together and help themselves in the process of eliminating the unscrupulous middlemen making a huge profit at the expense of the society.
The main guiding factor if an individual or group of individuals want to form a society must be whether all the concerned members have common goal to achieve or not, it is important factor because only when they share common desire or intention then only society is desirable otherwise the whole purpose of forming a society will be defeated.
Societies like any other business structure come with certain advantages and disadvantages, they are:
Advantages
• Cooperative stores supply quality goods unlike other shops wherein adulterated foods maybe given to its consumers and thus saved them from adulteration and other malpractices.
• As consumers or members of the society are the owners and managers of such stores, genuine requirements of the majority of consumers can be met. In other words, goods required by a majority of the customers or members of the society are always dealt by such stores.
• Cooperative societies are an important form of democratic business enterprise because ownership is not vested in one person completely so as a result, no single group can secure control over the organization.
Disadvantages
• It only caters to the needs of small and medium-income groups so when there are large group with higher economic interest then it is preferable to choose another business model.
• There is much dependence on the honesty, integrity and loyalty of members and workers and once there are trust issues between the members it is hard to transact business thereafter.
• It is limited to certain objectives hence profits are minimal.
• Management of society usually rests in the hands of people with less managerial experience due to which society will suffer and many do not invest in hiring professionals to handle the society due to lack of funds or interest so henceforth growth of the society maybe put to stake by its own members.

COMPARISON BETWEN CO-OPERATIVE HOUSING SOCIETY AND CONDOMINIUM
Act – Co-operative Society, which is regulated by the Maharashtra Co-operative Societies Act, 1960.
Act – An alternative to a Co-operative Housing Society was introduced by the Maharashtra Apartment Ownership Act, 1970. Condominium is a Building or Complex of Buildings containing a number of individually owned Apartments or houses. ownership of common areas is shared by all.
Requirement for formation – Generally require minimum 10 members/Flats to form CHS.
Requirement for formation – In Condominium, even one person who owns the entire building can form a Condominium provided there are at least five Apartments in the building.
Conveyance Deed of the land – The title of the land and the building is transferred and conveyed to the Society, which becomes the owner thereof.
Conveyance Deed of the land – The title of each Apartment rests with the Apartment owner, who also has a proportionate undivided interest in the land on which the building stands the common areas and facilities of the building.
Share Certificate – A Society issues certain shares to its members as per the Bylaws and the Share Certificate becomes an important title deed, since the allotment of the premises are related thereto.
Share Certificate – This is not so in a Condominium of Apartments/Buildings.
Management Committee – The affairs of the Society are managed by the Managing Committee which is elected by the members of the Society. The Managing Committee elects a Chairman, Secretary, and a Treasurer. Election conducted by State Co-op Election Authority(SCEA)
Management Committee – Similarly, the affairs of a Condominium are managed by the Board of Managers who is elected by the members of the Apartment Owners Association. The Board also elects a President, Vice-President, Secretary and a Treasurer.
Share Charges & Flat Transfer fee – Under the Model Bylaws, a Society can charge only Rs. 500/- as Transfer Fee with a maximum of Rs 25,000/- as a premium.
Share Charges & Flat Transfer fee – The Bylaws can be more flexible and the amount of Transfer Fee can be provided therein.
Renting Out Flats – In a Society, permission of Managing Committee including ‘Police Verification’ & Register L&L is required.
Renting Out Flats – In a Condominium, the owner can give his Apartment on lease or leave and license basis without the approval of the Board of Managers
Voting Rights – Every member has one vote, irrespective of the area of their premises.
Voting Rights – Every Apartment owner has a voting right in proportion to the value of his premises which is generally as per the area of the Apartment owned by him and which is defined while forming the Condominium.
Dispute Resolution – In a Society, disputes are generally referred to the Registrar appointed under the Act or to a Co-operative Court, depending on the nature of the dispute.
Dispute Resolution – The Court having jurisdiction over the area in which the Condominium is located, hears the disputes.
Membership cease & Expel – A Society can expel its member under certain extreme circumstances.
Membership cease & Expel – In case of a Condominium, there is no such provision. However, if an Apartment owner fails to comply with the Bylaws or the Rules and Regulations, either damages or injunctive relief or both can be claimed against him.
Nomination – In a Society, a member can nominate a person in whose favour shares of the Society should be transferred upon the member’s death.
Nomination – No such facility is available in a Condominium. An Apartment can be transferred to a person to whom the Apartment owner bequeaths the same by his will or to the legal representative of the Apartment owner’s estate.
Bye Laws of society – Bye-laws and Rules of ‘Society’ are binding on all the residents and nobody can act as per his/her whims. Hence, if the Society decides to ban any objectionable commercial activities in the flats such as noise-making music classes or using the flat for catering or courier activities etc or not to rent out to bachelors etc, then all the residents have to abide by it
Bye Laws of society – But if it is an Apartment, then owners can violate the Apartment Rules and the Apartment Body can just file a case in the Civil Court.
Redevelopment – When the building contemplates redevelopment after 25-30 years, the Society’s decision will be final and hence the Society members will have negotiation power with the builder at that time.
Redevelopment – But if in case of an Apartment, the consent of every Apartment-owner is required and hence it goes into an endless delay due to lack of a common decision acceptable to everybody.

FOR MORE DETAILS CALL:
VED LEGAL,
Adv. Gajanan Rahate
Mob: 9763040088
E_mail: [email protected]