Chapter 3 - Maharashtra Cooperative Societies Rules 1961

Rule No 19. Conditions to be complied with for admission for membership, etc

No person shall be admitted as a member of a society unless,—

(i) he has applied in writing in the form laid down by the society or in the form specified by the Registrar, if any, for membership;

(ii) his application is approved by the committee of the society in pursuance of the powers conferred on it in that behalf and subject to such resolution as the general body of members may in pursuance of the powers conferred on it in that behalf from time to time pass and in the case of nominal, associate or sympathiser member, by an officer of the society authorised in that behalf by the committee;

(iii) he has fulfilled all other conditions laid down in the Act, the rules and the by-laws;

(iv) in case of a firm, company or body corporate, society registered under the Societies Registration Act, I860, a public trust registered under any law for the time being in force relating to registration of public trusts or a local authority, the application for membership is accompanied by a resolution authorising it to apply for such membership.

¹ [Rule No 19A. Procedure for tendering application to the Registrar for membership under section 23(1A)

(1) Where a society has refused to accept the application for membership from eligible person, such person shall tender an application to the Registrar in Form 4H-T together with requisite share money and entrance fee

(2) The Registrar, on receipt of such application, shall forward the same to the society concerned together with requisite share money and entrance fee within thirty days from the date of its receipt.

(3) The Society shall take the decision and communicate the same to the applicant within sixty days from the date of receipt of such application as provided in sub-rule (2) and if no decision is communicated to the applicant within the said period of sixty days, the applicant shall be deemed to have been admitted as a member of such society.

(4) In case the society refuses to admit the applicant as its member, it shall communicate the decision within the period of sixty days mentioned in sub-rule (3) with reasons therefor and refund the share money and entrance fee with such communication. If the society fails to refund the said amount, it shall be liable to pay interest at 15% per annum on the said amount from the date of such communication and the said amount if not paid, shall be recovered as an arrears of land revenue.]

Rule No 20. Procedure for admission of joint members and minor and persons of unsound mind inheriting the share or interest of deceased member

(1) A society may admit joint members provided they make a declaration in writing that the person whose name stands first in the share certificate shall have the right to vote and all the liabilities will be borne jointly and severally by them as provided in the Act, rules and by-laws.

(2) In accordance with the procedure laid down in its by-laws and these rules for admission of any member, a society may admit minors and persons of unsound mind inheriting share or interest of deceased members as its members through their legal representatives or guardians, respectively. The members so admitted will enjoy such rights and liabilities through such legal representatives or guardians as are laid down in the bylaws of the society that are consistent with the Act and rules.

Rule No 21. Withdrawal of Membership

(1) Subject to the provisions of the Act, the rules and the by-laws of the society, a member may withdraw from the society after giving three months' notice to the Secretary of the society of his intention to resign his membership of the society.

(2) No resignation of a membership shall be accepted by the society unless the member has paid in full, his dues, if any. to the society and has also cleared his liability, if any, as surety to any other member or otherwise.

(3) The withdrawal from membership shall also be subject to such restrictions regarding the maximum amount of share capital that can be refunded in a year or as may have been provided for in the Act, the rules or by-laws of the society.

(4) Any member, whose resignation has been accepted by the society, or any heir or legal representative of a deceased member, may demand refund of the share capital held by such member or deceased member and the society shall, subject to the provisions of subclause (3) of Section 29 and subject to the provisions of the bylaws, refund the amount within six months from the acceptance of the resignation or, as the case may be, the date of demand made by the heir or legal representative of the deceased member.

(5) In all the cases where share capital is to be refunded, valuation of the shares to be refunded shall be made in accordance with the provisions contained in Rule 23.

Rule No 22. Form of report under Section 9(2)

(1)In the case of Federal Societies, the voting rights of individual members (which term shall include firm, company or body corporate, society registered under Societies Registration Act, I860, State Government, local authority and public trust registered under any law for the time being in force relating to registration of public trusts but shall not include a society) may be regulated as follows

(a) Immediately after the 30th June of every year and as soon as possible before the annual general meeting, individual members admitted to membership up to the 30th June of the preceding year (hereinafter referred to as "the relevant date"), shall elect delegates equal to one-fourth of the number of societies admitted to membership up to the relevant date or one delegate for every twenty-five individual members (fractions being neglected) whichever is less. The delegates so elected will continue in office till their successors are elected after 30th June next.
(b) Every society through its properly authorised representative and every delegate referred to in clause (a) above shall have one vote in the general meeting.
The quorum for the meeting shall be one-fifth of the total number of delegates and representatives of the societies or 25 whichever is less :
Provided that the delegates shall not at any time in the meeting exceed one-fourth of the number of representatives of the societies.
(d) The election of delegates shall be held in accordance with the provisions of the by-laws.
(e) Any vacancy of a delegate caused on account of cessation of membership shall be filled by the delegates by co-opting one of the individual members.

(2) Unless otherwise provided by the Registrar in respect of any particular society, the delegates on the committee or the Board of Directors, as the case may be, shall not at any time exceed one-third of the number of representatives of societies (fraction being neglected).

Rule No 23. Valuation of shares

(1) Where a member of society ceases to be a member thereof, the sum representing the value of his share or interest in the share capital of the society to be paid to him or his nominee, heir or legal representative, as the case may be, shall be ascertained in the following manner, namely, —

(i) In the case of a society with unlimited liability, it shall be the actual amount received by the Society in respect of such share or interest;
(ii) In the case of a society with limited liability, it shall be the amount arrived at by a valuation based on the financial position of the society as shown in the last audited balance sheet preceding the cessation of membership :
Provided that the amount so ascertained shall not exceed the actual amount received by the society in respect of such share or interest.

(2) Where a person is allotted a share by a society, the payment required to be made therefor shall not exceed the face value of the share notwithstanding anything contained in the by-laws of the society.

(3) When a share is transferred by a member to another member duly admitted as a member of a society, the transferee shall not be required to pay anything in excess of the value of the share determined in accordance with sub-rule (1).

Rule No 24. Procedure for transfer of shares

(1) No transfer of shares shall be effective unless,—

(a) it is made in accordance with the provisions of the by-laws;
(b) a clear fifteen days' notice in writing is given to the society indicating therein the name of the proposed transferee, his consent, his application for membership, where necessary, and the value proposed to be paid by the transferee;
(c) all liabilities of the transferor due to the society are discharged; and
(d) the transfer is registered in the books of the society.

(2) Any charge in favour of the society on the share so transferred will continue unless discharged otherwise.

Rule No 25. Nomination of persons

(1) For the purpose of transfer of his share or interest under sub-section (1) of Section 30, a member of a society may, by a document signed by him or by making a statement in any book kept for the purpose by the society nominate any person or persons. Where the nomination is made by a document, such document shall be deposited with the society during the member's life time and where the nomination is made by a statement, such statement shall be signed by the member and attested by one witness.

(2) The nomination made under sub-rule (1) may be revoked or varied by any other nomination made in accordance with that sub-rule.

(3)

(i) Where a member of a society has not made any nomination, the society shall on the member's death, by a public notice exhibited at the office of the society, invite claims or objections for the proposed transfer of the share or interest of the deceased within the time specified in the notice.
(ii) After taking into consideration the claim or objections received in reply to the notice or otherwise, and after making such inquiries as the committee considers proper in the circumstances prevailing, the committee shall decide as to the person who in its opinion is the heir or the legal representative of the deceased member and proceed to take action under Section 30.

Rule No 26. Registration of nominations

The name and address of every person nominated for the purposes of sub-section (1) of Section 30 and any revocation or variation of such nomination shall be entered in the register kept under Rule 32.

Rule No 27. Supply of copies of documents by societies and fees therefore

(1) A member of a society requiring a copy of any of the documents mentioned in subsection (1) of Section 32 may apply to the society for the same. Every such application shall be accompanied by a deposit of such amount as may be decided by the committee for recovering the cost of preparing the copies according to the following scale, namely :-

for every 200 words or less—
English	¹ [40 Paise]
Regional language	¹ [50 Paise]
On receipt of the deposit, the society shall issue a receipt for the same.

(2) Where the copies are prepared, the amount due from the member according to the scale laid down in sub-rule (i) shall be retained by the society as copying fees and the surplus amount, if any. remaining Lout of the deposit shall be refunded to the member at the time of supplying copies. Where the amount deposited by the member is found to be insufficient to cover the copying fees, the member shall be called upon to pay the deficit before taking delivery of the copies.

(3) The copies shall be certified and signed as true copies by any person duly authorised in this behalf by the committee or under the by-laws of the society.

Rule No 28. Expulsion of Members

Any member who has been persistently defaulting payment of his dues or has been failing to comply with the provisions of the by-laws regarding sales of his produce through the society, or other matters in connection with his dealings with the society or who, in the opinion of the committee, has brought disrepute to the society or has done other acts detrimental to the interest or proper working of the society may, in accordance with the provisions of sub-section (i) of Section 35, be expelled from the society. Expulsion from membership may involve forfeiture of shares held by the member.

Rule No 29. Procedure for expulsion of members

(1) Where any member of a society proposes to bring a resolution for expulsion of any other member, he shall give a written notice thereof to the Chairman of the society. On receipt of notice or when the committee itself decides to bring in such resolution, the consideration of such resolution shall be included in the agenda for the next general meeting and a notice thereof shall be given to the member against whom such resolution is proposed to be brought, calling upon him to be present at the general meeting to be held not earlier than a period of one month from the date of such notice and to show cause against expulsion to the general body of members. After hearing the member, if present, or after taking into consideration any written representation which he might have sent, the general body of members shall proceed to consider the resolution.

(2) When a resolution passed in accordance with sub-rule (1) is sent to the Registrar or otherwise brought to his notice, the Registrar may consider the resolution and after making such enquiries as he may deem fit, give his approval and communicate the same to the society and the member concerned. The resolution shall be effective from the date of such approval.

Rule No 30. Inspection of documents in the Registrar's office by members of societies and the scale of fees for supply of copies of documents:

A member of a society or any member of the public may inspect the following documents in the office of the Registrar free of charge, and may obtain certified copies thereof on payment of the following fees—

¹ [Documents	Fees
(i) Application for registration of society	40 paise for every 200 words or less in English and 50 paise for every 200 words or less in Marathi.
(ii) Certificate of registration	Do
(iii) By-laws of societies	Do
(iv) Amendment of by-laws of a society	Do
(v) Order of cancellation of the registration of a society	Do
(vi) Audit memorandum of a society	Do
(vii) Annual balance sheet	Do
(viii) Order under Section 88	Do
(ix) Order of supersession of a committee or removal of any member thereof	Do
(x) Order referring a dispute for decision	Do
(xi) Any other order against which an appeal is provided	Do]

The Maharashtra Cooperative Societies Rule 1961

Chapter III - Members and their rights and liabilities