Co-operative Housing Society Formation & Compliance
When flats in a building are sold, the purchasers are meant to be organised into a body that holds and manages what they own collectively. In Maharashtra that body is almost always a co-operative housing society, registered under the Maharashtra Co-operative Societies Act, 1960. The obligation to apply for that registration sits on the promoter, and it arises earlier than most purchasers assume: under Section 10 of the Maharashtra Ownership Flats Act, 1963, as soon as the minimum number of persons required to form the society have taken flats. Completion of the building is not the trigger.
Tarte Consultants assists purchasers, chief promoters and managing committees with the formation and registration of the society, and with the documentation a registered society then needs. One point is worth settling at the outset, because it is the commonest misunderstanding in this area: registering the society does not transfer the land and the building to it. That is conveyance, and it is a separate matter.
When you need this service
- The minimum number of persons required to form the society have taken flats, and the promoter has not applied for registration
- The building is occupied and functioning, but no society has been registered
- The project and member papers have to be assembled and reconciled before an application can be filed
- The society has just been registered and its initial records and documentation need to be put in order
- The committee needs resolutions, member consents, no-objection certificates or undertakings prepared
- A submission to the Registrar of Co-operative Societies requires supporting documentation
What we handle
The work divides into two parts that are often treated as one: getting the society registered, and keeping the documentation of a registered society in order afterwards.
Formation and registration of the society
Preparation of the application for registration under the Maharashtra Co-operative Societies Act, 1960 and the rules made under it, together with the supporting documentation, through to the registration certificate. The framework is administered by the Registrar of Co-operative Societies; the application form, the fees and the supporting documents are prescribed by those rules and by current office practice.
Reconciling the project and member papers
The recurring difficulty in a formation matter is not obtaining any single document. It is inconsistency between them — a name spelled differently across agreements, an area that does not match between the agreement and the approved plan, a unit that appears twice, an agreement whose registration particulars cannot be produced. We reconcile the papers before anything is filed, and that reconciliation is most of the work.
The proposed society's own record
The record by which the flat purchasers constitute themselves as a proposed society — the meeting at which they resolve to form it and appoint the chief promoter, the bye-laws adopted, and the name approval material. Bye-laws adopted without the meeting record that shows they were adopted is one of the commonest documentary gaps.
Resolutions, member consents, no-objection certificates and undertakings
Drafting of general body and committee resolutions, member consent documentation, no-objection certificates, undertakings and indemnities — the internal instruments a society relies on when it has to demonstrate later that a decision was properly taken.
Post-registration records and documentation
Registration is the beginning of the society's obligations rather than the end of them. We assist with the documentation a newly registered society puts in place — its statutory records and registers, the record of the first general body meeting and the election of the managing committee, and the membership records. This is documentation assistance: holding the meetings, keeping the accounts and making the filings remain the society's own responsibility.
Submissions to the Registrar and other departments
Preparation and organisation of the documentation required for submissions to the Registrar of Co-operative Societies and to other departments having jurisdiction, including the material supporting an application or a departmental requirement where documentation is what is being asked for.
How a society is formed and registered
The framework is the Maharashtra Co-operative Societies Act, 1960 and the rules made under it, administered by the Registrar of Co-operative Societies. The application form, the fees, the supporting documents and the sequence are prescribed by those rules and by current Registrar practice, and they are revised from time to time.
Assessment and reconciliation of the papers
What the project actually holds is established first — the agreements under which members bought, the plans and the approvals, the title and land records, and the schedule of sold and unsold units. Inconsistencies between them are resolved before anything is filed.
The proposed society constitutes itself
The flat purchasers resolve to form the society, adopt bye-laws and elect a chief promoter to carry the application forward. That resolution and the meeting record are themselves part of the file.
Application to the Registrar of Co-operative Societies
The chief promoter applies to the Registrar with the prescribed application and the supporting documents.
Examination and registration
The Registrar examines the application and, on being satisfied, registers the society and issues a registration certificate.
First general body meeting and handover
The society holds its first general body meeting, elects its managing committee, and begins to function — opening its account in its own name, taking over management of the common areas, and enrolling members formally.
The documentation a registered society then needs
Statutory records and registers, the record of general body meetings and the resolutions passed at them, member consents and undertakings as decisions require them, and the documentation supporting submissions to the Registrar. We assist with preparing that documentation; holding the meetings, keeping the accounts and making the filings remain the society's own responsibility.
Important
Registration of the society does not transfer the land and the building to it. The society becomes a body that can hold property, contract and act in its own name, but title passes only on conveyance, which is a separate instrument and a separate matter. Where the promoter does not execute it, the statutory remedy is deemed conveyance. Neither is a step in the sequence above — both are set out on their own pages.
What a formation file generally rests on
Without treating this as a prescribed checklist, an application is generally built on the same categories of material:
- Name approval material and the bye-laws adopted for the proposed society
- The record of the meeting at which the purchasers resolved to form the society and appointed the chief promoter
- The list of proposed members with their particulars
- The individual agreements under which members acquired their flats, with their registration particulars
- The title and land records for the property
- The approved plans and the approvals under which the building was constructed and occupied
- The schedule of sold and unsold units, including any units the promoter claims to retain
Please note: This is indicative rather than a universal prescribed checklist. The application form, the fees, the supporting documents and the sequence are prescribed by the rules and by current Registrar practice, and they are revised from time to time. What a particular society needs depends on the project records, on what the promoter did and did not do, on which member agreements can actually be produced, on the title and land documents available, and on the current requirement of the office having jurisdiction — which we confirm rather than assume.
Points purchasers and committees should be clear about
The trigger is the taking of flats, not completion of the building
Under Section 10 of the Maharashtra Ownership Flats Act, 1963 the promoter must submit the application for registration of the organisation of flat purchasers as soon as the minimum number of persons required to form it have taken flats, within the prescribed period. Completion and handover matter operationally, but they are not what starts the obligation. The obligation sits on the promoter; in practice the purchasers have the stronger interest in seeing it discharged, and are often the ones who have to press for it.
Registration of the society is not conveyance of the land
The society becomes a legal body capable of holding property, opening an account in its own name and contracting. It does not thereby acquire title to the land and the building. That transfer is the conveyance, and it remains outstanding for a great many properly registered societies in Maharashtra. It is the largest single item most newly registered societies still have in front of them.
The official charges are prescribed — they are not our charges
Society formation attracts a registration fee of Rs. 2,500/- (Rupees Two Thousand Five Hundred Only) and share money and entrance fee of Rs. 600/- (Rupees Six Hundred Only) per member. These are the prescribed official charges for society formation. They are separate from the professional charges of Tarte Consultants, which are advised once the matter has been assessed. Authority-prescribed charges can change, so the applicable official charges should be confirmed at the time of filing.
The papers get harder to assemble, not the problem larger
The documents needed to register a society — the agreements under which members bought, the plans, the approvals — are easiest to collect while the project is fresh and the promoter is still engaged. Societies that come to us years later frequently spend more effort reconstructing papers than on the registration itself. The same material is what a conveyance file will later rest on, which is a further reason to keep it complete.
A society is not the only structure
A co-operative housing society is the dominant form in Maharashtra but it is not the only one. Ownership can also be organised as a condominium under the apartment ownership legislation, or through a company. These structures differ in how the common property is held, how the body is governed and how units are transferred. For most residential projects in this state the society route is the expected one; where a promoter proposes something else, it is worth understanding why before agreeing.
Questions we are asked about this service
No. Registration under the Maharashtra Co-operative Societies Act, 1960 brings the society into existence as a body that can hold property, open an account in its own name and contract — but it does not by itself transfer the land and the building to it. That transfer is the conveyance, and it is a separate instrument executed in favour of the society. A great many societies in Maharashtra are properly registered and still hold no title to the land beneath them. Where the promoter does not execute the conveyance, the statutory remedy is deemed conveyance.
No. Tarte Consultants does not charge a consultation fee. Walk in or call to discuss your requirement without obligation. Charges for the actual assignment, and the Government charges that apply to it, are advised once we have assessed the matter and established what it requires.
Begin with a call, a WhatsApp message, or an enquiry. For the first review we prefer that you bring the papers to our Dombivli Head Office, where the matter and document requirements can be assessed directly. Documents may also be shared by WhatsApp or email, or sent by courier where that is more practical. The enquiry form itself does not take attachments — send it, and we will tell you what to send and how.
An initial meeting at our Dombivli Head Office is preferred so the instrument and document requirements can be assessed directly. Much of the review, drafting, coordination and follow-up can then continue remotely. Where the applicable route requires personal appearance, the required persons attend physically. Ordinary property registration requires the executants to attend the Government registration office having jurisdiction, while leave and license follows its own e-registration process. Individual services carry their own exceptions: a power of attorney can be executed from outside India, and arrangements can be made where a testator is unable to travel to register a Will.
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