Introduction

A Co-operative Society is a body corporate with perpetual succession. It can acquire, hold
and dispose off properties, it can enter into contract and it can sued and can be sued. In the
state of Maharashtra a society is formed, regulated, governed and controlled by
Maharashtra Co-operative Societies Act, 1960 (Section 36 of M.C.S. Act 1960). All the Co-
operative Societies have to maintain records as per Maharashtra Co-operative Societies Act
1960, M.C.S. Rules, 1961 and Byelaws of the Society.

Housing Co-Operative Society

A housing cooperative, or housing company, is a legal entity, usually
a cooperative or a corporation, which owns real estate, consisting of one or more
residential buildings; it is one type of housing tenure. Housing cooperatives are a
distinctive form of home ownership that have many characteristics that differ from
other residential arrangements such as single family
home ownership, condominiums and renting.[2]
The corporation is membership-based, with membership granted by way of a share
purchase in the cooperative. Each shareholder in the legal entity is granted the right
to occupy one housing unit. A primary advantage of the housing cooperative is the
pooling of the members' resources so that their buying power is leveraged, thus
lowering the cost per member in all the services and products associated with home
ownership.
Another key element in some forms of housing cooperatives (but not Finnish
housing companies, for example) is that the members, through their
elected representatives, screen and select who may live in the cooperative, unlike
any other form of home ownership.
Housing cooperatives fall into two general tenure categories: non-ownership
(referred to as non-equity or continuing) and ownership (referred to as equity or
strata). In non-equity cooperatives, occupancy rights are sometimes granted subject
to an occupancy agreement, which is similar to a lease. In equity cooperatives,
occupancy rights are sometimes granted by way of the purchase agreements and
legal instruments registered on the title. The corporation's articles of incorporation
and bylaws as well as occupancy agreement specifies the cooperative's rules.
History of Housing Co-operative Societies
Housing problem is acute since long back in urban areas. In India more than 25% of the
Urban population lives in slums and squatter settlements and earn irregular, inadequate
and uncertain money. Most of them have no finance to accommodate themselves in
buildings. A number of schemes have been launched by the Government time to time to
improve the situations in respect of Housing. The continued process of Rural migration to
Urban Areas has tended to enlarge slums and squatters.

The first Co-operative Law was in force from 1904. Several Cooperative Institutions began
to be established from then. The first Cooperative Housing Society was established in the
year 1909 in Karnataka State (formerly Mysore State) and the name of the Co-operative
Housing Society was the Bangalore Building Co-operative Society. In Bombay a non-official
body or association was also formed in the name of Bombay Co-operative Housing
Association in the year 1913. This was possible due to effort of the Maharashtra State
Government (formerly Bombay State Govt.). The Association took the effort to propagate
the Co-operative Housing Movement. But after this till 1947, the year of Independence, no
40 remarkable progress in construction of group Housing or formation of Cooperative
Housing Societies was observed. Because there was no viable organisational set up, non-
affection of legal and administrative actions for the purpose of its promotion and co-
ordination of its activities. Before our Independence, there were political turmoils
throughout the world on account of World War. This caused a major set-back in promotion
of Group Housing. Government of the independent country took the matter of housing as a
subject of yearly plans. In the First Five Year Plan of India, Housing got its significance.
Unless economic growth is attained, such Cooperative movement was bound to be
chocked. Other institutional net work within the Housing Sector came gradually and gave
rise to a continuous growth in formation of Co-operative Housing Societies. During 1959-60,
the number was 5564. These were functioning with a total membership of about 32 million.
Working capital of such societies was about Rs.550 million. The calculation of such Co-
operative Housing Societies stood at 80,000 almost and the number of membership in
these societies stood at about 5 million. The working capital was Rs 30,086 million. During
the period from 1959 to 1968, number of Primary Co-operative Housing Societies rose from
5564 to 13834 while the total number of members rose from 0,32 million to 0.90 million
and the working capital rose from Rs.550 millions to Rs.2070 million. During the period
from 1971 to 1980, the number of Co-operative Housing Societies rose from 20234 to
34052 and 41 the total number of membership was extended from 1.37 million to 1.86
million, while the working capital rose from Rs.5862 million to Rs. 12477 million. Thus the
figures rose from 40000 to 80000, 3 million to 5 million and Rs. 15000 million to Rs.30086
million during the period from 1983 to 1993.
Establishment of National Co-operative Housing Federation :
Practically the organisational set up of the movement in Cooperative Housing took a
specific shape in 1969. In this year, a federated body was set up named as the National Co-
operative Housing Federation of India (N.C.H.F.). The establishment of this Federation was
not at the instance of non-official persons but of the Government of India. The Department
of works and Housing, Government of India played an important role in co-ordinating and
guiding the activities of Housing Cooperatives in the country. In the grass-root level, the
primary Co-operative Housing Societies procure land and allot plots of land to its members.
The individual member constructs his own house on the plot allotted by such Housing
Societies. On the other hand, where land is not so in abundance, the Co-operative Housing
Society undertakes Multi-storied Building comprising of many flats for allotment to its
members, provided none of the members shall get more than one flat.

National Co-operative Housing Federation :

The National Co-operative Housing Federation of India (NCHF) which was set up in 1969 on
the recommendation of the working group on Housing Co-operatives constituted by the
Government of India in 1962 to promote, guide, co-ordinate and help the Co-operative
Housing Societies in their operations. This Federation since 1969 is pursuing the co-
operative idelogy and convincing with constant making of awareness to the public of its
objectives, organisational activities and achievements in GroupHousings in the form of Co-
operative Housing Societies.
The main Objectives of N .C .H .F .are as follows :
1. To provide a common forum for dealing with technical, financial and practical problems
relating to co-operative housing and to devise ways and means of solving these problems.
44
2. To propagate and popularise Co-operative Housing movement on the sound co-operative
principles and in order to promote such ideas, to arrange publications and periodicals, news
bulletin and journals, exchange statistics and information relating to Cooperative Housing.
3. To raise funds by borrowing or otherwise.
4. To grant loans and advances to the members.
5. To co-ordinate and guide the working of members in respect of planning and
construction etc. of houses and make available expert advice / services for this purpose.
6. To procure, manufacture, stock and supply of raw materials to its members.
7. To promote Apex Co-operative Housing Federations in those States where such
organisations do not exist.
 Definitions/ Terms and Related Aspects

Maharashtra Co-operative Housing Society Bye

Laws
II. INTERPRETATIONS / DEFINITIONS

Interpretations of the words and terms: separately provided in these bye-laws, the
following and terms shall have the meaning assigned to them herein:
(i) "Act" means the Maharashtra Co-operative Societies Act; (MCS Act) 1960;
(ii) "Bye-laws" means the registered bye-laws of the society;
(iii) "Chief Promoter" means the person who is elected by the Promoters, in their first
meeting, or in their subsequent meetings in case the post of the Chief Promoter lies
vacant, till the first general meeting.
(iv) "Committee" means the Committee of the members or other directing body to
which the management of the affairs of the society is entrusted;
(v) " Days" clear notice means the number of calendar days intervening between the
day of posting the notice and the day of the meeting;
(vi) "Flat" means a separate and self contained set of premises used or intended to
be used for residence, or office, or showroom, or shop, or godown and includes a
garage, or dispensary, or consulting room, or clinic, or flour mill, or the coaching
classes, or palnaghar or beauty parlour, the premises forming part of building and
includes an apartment;
(vii) "Housing Society Federation" means the federation of co-operative housing
societies, registered under the Act;
(viii) "Ownership Flats Act" means the Maharashtra Ownership Flats (Regulation of
the Promotion of Construction, Sale, Management and Transfer) Act, 1963;
(ix) "Papers" means all or any of items mentioned in the bye-laws Nos. 142 and
143;
(x) "Parking Space" means open space within the premises of the society
earmarked by it for parking of vehicles and includes a stilt;
(xi) "Prescribed Form" means the form included in the Annexure II indicating the
bye-law No. under which it is prescribed and the Appendix at which it is enclosed;
(xii) "Promoter" means a person, who has signed the application for registration of
the society.
(xiii) "Builder- Promoter" means a person who constructs or causes to be
constructed a block or building of flats or apartments for the purpose of selling some
or all of them to other persons, or to a company, Co- operative Society or other
association of persons, and includes his assignees; and where the person who
builds and the person who sells are different persons, the term includes both;
(xiv) "Rules" means the Maharashtra Co-operative Societies Rules, 1961;
(xv) "Reserve Fund" means the fund constituted under the provisions of Section
66(1) & 66(2) of the Act and the Bye- Law No. 12(i);
(xvi) "Repairs and Maintenance Fund" means the fund constituted under the Bye-
law No.13(a);
(xvii) "Sinking Fund" means the fund constituted under the Bye-law No.13(c);
(xviii) "Major Repair Funds" means a fund created by the society for the purpose of
Major Repairs, such as plastering, building of compound wall, pavement, total
painting, reconstruction;
(xix) "Municipal Act" means the Maharashtra Municipalities Act 1965 (Mah.XL of
1965);
(xx) Open space" means an Area, forming an integral part of the site, left open to
sky;
(xxi) "Open terraces" means terraces which are otherwise not in the exclusive
possession of any of the members;
(xxii) "Common Areas & Facilities" means
(a) the land on which the building is located;
(b) the foundations, columns, gurders, beams, supports, main walls, roofs, halls,
corridors, lobbies, stairs-ways, fire escapes and entrances and exits of the building;
(c) the basements, cellars, yards, gardens, parking areas and storage spaces;
(d) the premises for persons employed for the management of the property;
(e) installations of central services, such as power, light, gas, hot and cold water,
heating, refrigeration, air conditioning and generators;
(f) the elevators, tanks, pumps, motors, fans, compressors, ducts and in general all
apparatus and installations existing for common use;
(g) such community and commercial facilites as may have been provided for;
(h) all other parts of the property necessary or convenient to its existence,
maintenance and safety or normally in common use;
(xxiii) 'Society' means the Co-operative Housing Society Ltd.,
(xxiv) "Member" means a person joining in an application for the Registration of a
Co-operative Society which is subsequently registered, or a person duly admitted to
membership of a society after Registration and includes a Nominal and Associate
member.
a) ‘Associate Member’ means a member who holds jointly a share of the Society
with other member but whose name does not stand first in the share certificate.
b) ‘Nominal Member’ means a person admitted to membership after registration in
accordance with the Bye-laws.
(xxv) ‘Family’ means group of persons, which includes husband, wife, father,
mother, sister, brother, son, daughter, son-in- law, brother-in-law, sister-in-law,
daughter-in-law, grandson/ daughter.
(xxvi) ‘Transfer Fees’ means the sum of payable by a transferor to the Society for
the transfer of his shares along with occupancy right as provided under the Bye-law
No. 38(e)(vii).
(xxvii) ‘Premium’ shall mean and include the amount payable to the society by the
member, transferring his shares and interest in the capital /property of the Society,
in addition to the transfer fee as provided under bye-law no.38(e)(ix).
(xxviii) "Working Capital" means funds at the disposal of the society inclusive of the
paid up capital, share capital, funds created out of profits and money raised by
borrowing or by any other means.
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Characteristics of Co-operative Housing Society
Open Membership

Voluntary Association

State Control

Democratic Management

Service Motive

Separate Legal Entity

Distribution of Surplus

Self-Help through Mutual Co-operation

Advantages of Co–operative Society

A Co-operative form of business organization has the following advantages:

1. Easy Formation: Formation of a co-operative society is very easy compared to a joint

stock company. Any ten adults can voluntarily form an association and get it registered with
the Registrar of Co-operative Societies.

2. Open Membership: Persons having common interest can form a co-operative society.
Any competent person can become a member at any time he/she likes and can leave the
society at will.

3. Democratic Control: A co-operative society is controlled in a democratic manner. The

members cast their vote to elect their representatives to form a committee that looks after
the day-to-day administration. This committee is accountable to all the members of the
society.

4. Limited Liability: The liability of members of a co-operative society is limited to the

extent of capital contributed by them. Unlike sole proprietors and partners the personal
properties of members of the co-operative societies are free from any kind of risk because
of business liabilities.

5. Elimination of Middlemen’s Profit: Through co-operatives the members or consumers

control their own supplies and thus, middlemen’s profit is eliminated.

6. State Assistance: Both Central and State governments provide all kinds of help to the
societies. Such help may be provided in the form of capital contribution, loans at low rates
of interest, exemption in tax, subsidies in repayment of loans, etc.

7. Stable Life: A co-operative society has a fairly stable life and it continues to exist for a
long period of time. Its existence is not affected by the death, insolvency, lunacy or
resignation of any of its members.