In this article, Ranojoy Middya discusses Election Procedure for Housing Societies.

Introduction

When it comes to the elections within the Co-operative Housing Societies, the importance of Bye-laws has always been pivotal in nature. But, with the advent of new Model Bye-laws now the election procedures have seen an epic growth in the very management of the affairs of the Co-operative Housing Society which solely vests in the Committee of the Management duly elected by the General Body of the Society that too being in consonance with the provisions of the Maharashtra Co-operative Societies Act, 1960 and the Maharashtra Co-operative Societies Rules, 1961. So let’s see how it is conducted in consonance with the new Model Bye-laws.

Initial Stage

• In the year of 2013 w.e.f February 14, 2013, the very Ordinance brought forth the much-required amendment in MCS Act. Following such amendment, the Chapter XIA governing elections viz., sections 144A to 144Y got eliminated. And in lieu, the same, Section 73CB got introduced by the ordinance. In addition to that, State Election Authority has been bestowed with the election powers in a Cooperative Society.

• At the same time, the Mumbai District Co-operative Housing Federation cropped up with a representation to the State Government that implementation of such provision has all the tendency to create tremendous hardships to small Co-operative Housing Societies. Hence, the preferences need to be given to the Model bye-laws till such time and the very election rules prescribed thereunder are to have prevailed.
• With the complete registration of the society, the chief promoter /builder promoter gets obliged to conduct the first statutory general meeting of the society within a period of three months from the date of the registration of the society. The major agenda of this meeting must be reflected in constituting a provisional committee of some members of the society until the regular election of the management committee is held.

Due date of the election to the Committee

In actual terms, the elections are supposed to be held on 14th August every year during the Annual General meeting but it hasn’t been followed most of the times. Instead, they are held sometime later during the year.

As per Bye-laws, the election must be held on or before the completion of 5 years from the date of the previous election. The period of 5 years commences from the very date of the previous election. Hence, an election on 1st October 2012 would be succeeded with the next election on or before 1st October 2017. In order to conduct the announcement of the election results, a Special General Body Meeting must be called for.

Removal of Restriction on Voting Rights

With the advent of the very amendment of Section 27 of the Maharashtra Co-operative Societies Act 1960, the waiting period of two years for voting rights had been removed. As a result of such, any eligible member or an associate member with the consent of 1st member can contest the election immediately after seeking membership and his admission is made as a member of the society.

Election candidature of a Member, Proposer, and Seconder in arrears of the society

• In accordance with the Bye-law No. 118, the candidature of a member who is in arrears in respect of any dues of the society on the date of scrutiny of nomination papers beyond 90 days cannot be considered to be eligible to contest the election.

• However, in the case of the proposer and seconder member of the society, they can propose and second any candidature even if they are in arrears in respect of dues to the society.
• Even there are no such restrictions on the members to propose or second the candidature. They are privileged with N-number of opportunities to propose and the second candidature.

Election Procedure

• First and foremost, the Managing Committee must introduce the initial steps at least three months prior to the date of conducting the election. Also in accordance with the bye-law No.115 (Rule No. 2.1), the very strength of the managing committee shall be determined.

• There has also been an inclusion of probable conditions for disqualification in the Act, Rules and Model bye-laws for any member to be elected on the committee of the management. Thus it negates the practice of standing for election just on the basis of the candidate’s interest in respect of services provided to the society.

• Also keeping in mind all the defaulting members in respect of dues of the society, they are said to be severed within three months from the date of service of notice in writing, demanding the payment of dues and in case the dues still remains unpaid till filing of the nomination and the date of scrutiny of nominations, the said nomination will prima facie be considered as invalid.

• In addition to that, the associate member without the submission of No Objection Certificate of the original member cannot stand for election.

• Once the elections get over, the Secretary of the previous committee of the society must render the charge to the newly elected committee.
• In accordance with the section of 73 (IAB) of the Maharashtra Co-operative Societies Act, 1960 and Rule 58 A of the Maharashtra Cooperative Societies Rule 1961, every elected committee member, within 15 days of his/her assuming office must draft a bond to the effect in form of M-20 on a stamp paper worth rupees`200/-. And all the above expenses are to be borne by the society. Upon failure to execute such bond on time, the said member shall be deemed to have been vacated as a member of the committee. The Secretary of the society shall keep them on record of the society and accordingly inform the concerned Registrar of the ward along with copies of the bonds within 15 days from the formation of the committee. The execution of the bond has been waived in respect of Co-operative Housing Societies by notification order No. CSL 2012/CR- 402/15-C dated September 06, 2012.

Management of the Society

• The management of the affairs of the society shall vest in the committee duly constituted in accordance with the provisions of the Maharashtra Co-operative Societies Act, 1960, the Maharashtra Co-operative Societies Rules, 1961 and the bye-laws of the society.
• Under bye-law No.115 there is a provision regarding the strength of the committee and now it is compulsory to have at least one women in the committee as provided under section 73(BBB) of the Maharashtra Co-op Societies Act 1960. However, there is also a provision that in the event of women not being available or not willing to represent in the committee the seats reserved for her may be filled from other. The committee of management of the society as per Model bye-law No.115 depending on numbers of members of the society shall consist asunder. The strength includes the reservation of seats for women members as provided under section 73 BBB of the Act.

No of Members	The strength of the M.C			Quorum in M.C
	General	Women	Total
Up to 50	4	1	5	3
51 to 100	6	1	7	4
101 to 300	8	1	9	5
301 and above	9	2	11	6

In case of the unavailability of women members in representing the committee, the seats which are reserved for them may be filled by other eligible members.

The strength of the committee

The committee must be comprised of various numbers of members of the society. It could vary from 5 to 11 at the max. This strength includes the reservation of seats for women members as provided under section 73 BBB of the Act, as indicated in the above table.

Election of the Managing Committee (MC) under Bye-law No.116

• Election of all the members of the Managing Committee shall be held once in 5 years in accordance with the Election Regulations. The retiring members of the committee shall be eligible for election. If the paid up share capital is more than ‘10,000 then the voting shall be done by secret ballot.

• Election of all the members of the MC shall be held once in 5 years, accordance with the Election Regulations annexed to the Model bye-laws. The retiring members of the committee still possess the eligibility to be elected in their re-election. The period of office of the committee elected shall be for 5 years.
• As per Model bye-law, No. 116(b) In the event of receipt of inadequate valid nominations, required to constitute the full Committee, the General body at its meeting shall ill in the vacancies by election. During the general body meeting in case of inability to elect the required number of members to constitute the Committee, the elected members of the Committee shall be competent to compensate the same by co-option whether they form the quorum or not, notwithstanding the provisions of the bye-law No. 127 regarding the quorum.

Disqualification for election to the Managing committee. Bye-law 118

No person shall be eligible for being elected as a member of the MC or Co-opted on it, if:

• He has been convicted of the offense, involving moral turpitude unless the period of six years has elapsed since his conviction,

• He is unable to serve the society with the payment of dues to the society, within three months from the date of service of notice in writing, served either by hand delivery or by post (under the certificate of posting), demanding the payments of dues.

• He has been held responsible under Section 79 or 88 of the Maharashtra Co-operative Societies Act, 1960 or has been held responsible for the payment of the costs of inquiry under section 85 of the Maharashtra Co-operative Societies Act, 1960.

• He has without the previous permission of the society, in writing sublet his lat or part thereof or given it on leave and license and the caretaker basis or has made his way with its possession in any other manner or has sold his shares and interest in the society.

• He, being an associate member, held responsible for non-submission of the no-objection certificate and undertaking, as prescribed under these bye-laws, by the member. 

• He is declared as ineligible as per the provisions of the Maharashtra Co-operative Societies Act, 1960 and Rules, 1961. 

• A new sub-clause is inserted that no person shall be eligible for being elected as a member of the committee or co-opted on it if he is declared as ineligible as per the provisions of the Maharashtra Co-operative Societies Act, 1960 and Rules 1961.  
• Under Bye-law No.118 provision for disqualification for election to the committee is made. In sub-Bye-law No. 2 when a member defaults the payment of the dues to the society within three months from the date of service of notice in writing served either by hand or by U.P.C demanding the payments of dues and the same has not been compiled with then he shall not be eligible for being elected as a member of the committee or can be opted in to committee. Further now even associate member has been given a membership right can contest election for managing committee only if he has submitted no objection certificate and undertaking as prescribed under the present Bye-law.

Constitution of a member of the committee

• Under Bye-law No.119, a new provision for constitution of the committee has been inserted which is in compliance with the provisions of Maharashtra Co-op. Societies Act, 1960 and Maharashtra Co-op. Societies (2nd Amendment) Act,1986 (MAH.XXXVII of 1986).
• During the general election of members within the committee of a society, on the election of two-thirds or more number of members, the returning officer or any other officer or authority conducting such election shall within seven days after the declaration of results of the election of such members, or where such election is held before the date of commencement of the 1966 Act, [Maharashtra Co-operative Societies (second amendment) Act, 1966 (Mah. XXXVII of 1986)], such number of members have been elected but the committee has, for whatever reason, not been so far constituted, forward their names together with their permanent addresses to the registrar, who shall within fifteen days from the date of receipt thereof by him, publish or cause to be published such names and addresses by affixing a notice on the very notice board or at any prominent place in his office, and followed by such publication, the committee of the society must be deemed to be duly constituted in determining two thirds of the number of members, a fraction shall be ignored.

Cessation of a member of the committee under Bye-law no.120

A person shall cease to be the member of the committee, if:

• He turned out to be incurring any of the disqualifications laid down in the bye-law No. 118 or:
• He has failed to attend any three consecutive monthly meetings of the Committee, without the leave of absence.

Intimation of cessation of membership of the committee

In case any of the members of the committee gets disqualified under the bye-law No. 120 (1), the committee then shall be obliged to record the fact in the minutes of the meeting and following such record the secretary of the society shall intimate the same to the respective member and Registrar accordingly. Henceforth, such member would cease to be the member of Managing Committee by the very virtue of the order of the Registrar.

Period of office to the elected Committee

• Under bye-law No.122 the period of office of the Committee elected under the bye-law No. 116(a) shall be for 5 years.

• The period of 30 days of the election must be maintained in order to hold the first meeting of the newly elected committee.

• Under bye-law No. 123(A) a provision is made to hold the first meeting of the newly elected and outgoing committee within 30 days from the date of constitution of new Committee as provided in bye-law No. 119. 

• In accordance with the provisions of the bye-law No.123(a), the secretary of the outgoing Committee shall issue the notice of the first meeting of the newly elected Committee and the outgoing Committee to the members thereof. On the failure of the secretary of the outgoing Committee to convene the said meeting, the chairman of the outgoing Committee shall call it. On the failure of both, the Registering Authority may call such a meeting. 

• Under bye-law No.126 the President, Chairman, Secretary, of the society shall hold office for the period of five years from the date of their election to such office. However same shall not be beyond the expiry of the term of the committee. 
• In case of a no-confidence motion moved against Chairman, Secretary or Treasurer then such special meeting of the committee called shall be presided by the Registrar or such officer, not below the rank of Asst. Registrar. The provision was not present in the old Model bye-laws.

Election of office bearers of the society

• Every Committee must elect a Chairman, Secretary, and Treasurer among the members of the committee during its first meeting followed by the election.

Period of office of the chairman/secretary and ‘No Confidence’ motion against either

• The Chairman, Secretary and Treasurer of the society must be holding their respective offices for the period of 5 years from the date on which he is elected to be the Chairman or as the case may be the Secretary and Treasurer. But this holding period would no way exceed the expiry of a term of the Committee:

• Provided that he shall cease to be the Chairman, or as the case may be the Secretary and Treasurer of the society if the motion of ‘No Confidence’ is moved in the special meeting of the Committee called, and presided by Registrar or such officer not below the rank of an Assistant Registrar, upon the notice given by 1/3rds members of the Committee and the motion ‘No Confidence’ is passed by 3/4th members present as such meeting, having attendance of a least 2/3rd members of the Committee, who are entitled to vote at election of such Chairman, Secretary, and Treasurer.

• Stressing further, it has also been provided that in case of another motion of ‘No Confidence’, it shall not be brought against the Chairman or as the case may be the Secretary or Treasurer of the society till the completion of the period of 6 months from the date of the preceding motion of the ‘No Confidence’.
• Numbers of Committee Meetings to be held in a month.
• Under Bye-law No.128 the Committee shall meet as often as necessary but as least once in a month.
• In case of emergency, the committee may place a resolution and get the same passed by the committee members. However the same be placed before the next immediate meeting.

To fill in vacancies of the committee

• Under bye-law No.129 in the event of vacancies in the committee, caused an account of the death, resignation, disqualification or removal of any members of the Committee, by the Registrar the Committee may occupy such vacancies by co-option on the Committee of any other members eligible to be on the Committee, irrespective of the fact whether there is the quorum or not, regardless of what contained in the bye-law No. 127. Such vacancies by co-option must not exceed two.
• Bye-law No. 129 provides that in case of the vacancy caused due to any reason of disqualification, death, resignation or removal, the vacancy by co-option shall not be more than two.

The period of office of the member co-opted on the Committee

• Under Bye-law No. 130: The office period for all the co-opted member of the Committee shall be co-terminus with tenure of office of the Committee.

Resignation by a member of the Committee

• Under Bye-law No. 131: A member of the Committee in case of resigning his membership from the Committee must write a letter addressing to the Chairman of the society. The resignation shall be effective from the date it is accepted by the Committee or an expiry of the period of one month from the date of the receipt of the letter of the resignation by the Chairman or the Secretary of the society, whichever is earlier.
• Under Bye-law No. 132 (E) a provision is made that in the event entire committee is desirous to resign then the resignation of such committee shall be placed before the general body and such resignations shall be effective from the date of acceptance of such resignations by the general body till alternative arrangement is made for the management of the society outgoing committee continues in office.

The resignation of the office-bearer ship of the society

• The Chairman of the Society enjoys his own discretion in resigning his office as Chairman through a letter addressed to the Secretary of the Society;

• The Secretary or Treasurer of the society during the time of his resignation must also be resigning his office as Secretary or Treasurer, that too by a letter addressed to the Chairman of the society;

• Chairman/Secretary/Treasurer’s resignation would come to its effect only after its acceptance and handing over the charge to the newly elected Chairman/Secretary/Treasurer, as the case may be. 

• The Committee shall only accept the resignation of the office of the Chairman/Secretary/Treasurer after they are satisfied that the Chairman or as the case may be the Secretary or Treasurer of the society has come up with all of his up to date works which were entrusted to him and at the same time has produced the entire papers and property of the society, which were in his possession before the Committee. 
• In case entire Committee come up with their intentions to resign, such resignations would be placed before the general body and shall be effective from the date of acceptance of such resignations by the General Body. The Committee must continue in office till the time the alternate arrangement is made for the management of the society.

Who can become a Returning Officer 

A returning officer has been appointed from amongst the members of the society provided he is not intending to contest the election or propose or second any candidature. If no member is willing to work as a returning officer, the registering authority shall appoint a returning officer. The society will have to pay the honorarium to the said returning officer for working as a returning officer. The amount will be related to the number of members of the society and numbers of candidates to be elected.

Duties of Returning Officer

Duties of returning are spelled out in the Election Rules;

• He has to function as per Election Programme and Rules.

• If the number of nomination papers is equivalent to the number of seats on the Committee.

• If numbers of nomination papers are less than the number of seats on the Committee. 

• After scrutiny of nomination papers and date of withdrawal, the Returning Officer will have to report the valid number of nominations and an invalid number of nominations. If valid numbers of nominations are equivalent to the number of seats on the Committee, no election will be held. The Chairman has to declare in the General Body that they are elected. 

• However, if number of nomination papers or the number of valid nomination papers are less than the number of seats on the Committee, after scrutiny and withdrawal of nominations the Returning Officer has to report accordingly to the Chairman who will declare them as elected in the General Body and request the members to fill up the remaining number of seats on the Committee. 
• If the General Body does not elect the members for the remaining seats, the newly elected members at their first Committee meeting can co-opt the members for the remaining seats on the committee as per bye-law No. 116.

Election Rules

• These Rules shall be called the Rules of Election of a member of the Managing Committee of the Co-operative Housing Society Ltd. They shall be deemed to have come into force from the date of their approval by the Registering Authority.

• Each and every Managing Committee is entitled to hold elections before the expiry of its term. 

• If the recovered share capital is more than 10,000 then, voting shall be secret voting. 

• The members of the society on the Register of Members as on 31st December, if the election is due during subsequent period between 1st January to 30th June, and as on 30th June if election is due during subsequent period between 1st July and 31st December, only be eligible to vote in the election to Managing Committee of the Society. 

• The retired members, if not disqualified, shall be eligible for re-election. 

• In consonance with the point(3) mentioned above, the Managing Committee has been given the authority to prepare the provisional list which later on must be notified on the Notice Board of the society, 60 (sixty) days before the date of election, inviting suggestions and objections in respect of the names of the members, within a period of 8 (eight) days, from the publication of such list. 

• In accordance with the received suggestions and objections, if any, the Managing Committee proceeds with the publication of final list of members who stands eligible to vote, within two days of the last date as mentioned at 4 above. 

• The provisional and final list of members referred to above shall be in the Appendix ‘A’ appended to these Rules. 

• Once the final list is confirmed, the Managing Committee shall then appoint a Returning Officer from the very members who are not candidates for election. It also includes those members who neither have proposed nor requested any sort of candidature of any kind of membership. However, in case of a member being appointed as Returning Officer, the Managing Committee shall obtain an undertaking from such member that he will not contest the election nor propose or second any candidate. The Returning Officer in such scenarios enjoys the authority of appointing the polling staff according to his necessities.

• In case the Managing Committee fails to appoint a Returning Officer, the Registering Officer is bestowed with the responsibility to appoint a Returning Officer and polling staffs are being borne by the Society.
• The Returning Officer shall maintain a Notice Board in which he must draw and declare a programme of various stages of the election, as mentioned below, that too within the stipulated time period of seven days from the very date of publication of final list of voters of the Society.

Submission of copies of the stated Programme to the register and the concerned Housing Federation
Last date from making nominations.	7 days from the date of declaration election programme.
The date of publication of the list of nominations received.	On the last date and after the expiry of the time for nomination.
Date of scrutiny of Nominations.	Next day of the date making nomination.
Date of publication list of valid Nominations.	Next day after the date of completion of scrutiny.
Date of which candidature may be withdrawn	After clearing 15 days from the date of scrutiny.
Date of Publication of final list of contesting candidates.	The day next succeeding the last date fixed for withdrawal of candidature.
Date and time during which and the place at which the poll shall be taken	Minimum 5 days after the date of withdrawal (time & place to be fixed by Returning Officer)
Date time and place for counting votes	Immediately after polling is over.
Date of declaration of results of the voting	Immediately after counting of votes.

Explanation:– If the last date in reckoning dates as specified in the above cases is a public holiday, the next succeeding working day shall be mixed for the respective events.

The functions of the Returning Officer shall be as under;

1	Conducting a detailed programme of election to the Managing Committee of the society, after taking into consideration the various stages of the election process, as enumerated in 9 above.
2	Having a detailed check on the received nominations, and scrutinize them accordingly. Once done, he exhibits a list of valid nominations along with the list of final nominations remaining after withdrawal of nominations, if any,
3	Arranging for election by ballot in accordance with the provisions of the Election Rules.
4	Furnishing the result of the election to the Chairman of the society for being declared at the General Body meeting/special general body meeting of the society.
5	Executing other required and incidental actions which favor the election of Managing Committee of the society! The nominations from members shall be in form at Appendix ‘B’ appended to the Rules.
6	No members of the society shall be eligible to participate in the election of the society, If; He is in arrears in respect of any charges and any other amounts due to the society, as on the date of scrutiny of nomination papers. He has incurred any of the disqualifications as mentioned in the Maharashtra Cooperative Societies Rules, 1960 and Maharashtra Co-op Societies Rules, 1961 and the bye-laws of the society.
7	The nominations received till the last date and hour fixed for receiving nominations shall be scrutinized by the Returning Officer on the date fixed for scrutiny of nominations, in the presence of the candidates or their duly authorized representatives and the list of the valid nominations shall be published on the Notice Board of the society as per election programme. The candidates whose nominations are rejected shall be informed by the Returning Officer. in writing of the reasons for rejection of their nominations on the same day, in form at Appendix ‘B-2’.
8	The candidates, whose nominations have been declared valid shall be allowed time of 15 days (as required u/s 152 A of the M.C.S. Act 1960) from the date of publication of the list of valid nominations, to withdraw their candidature by means of a letter handed over to the Returning Officer.
9	Immediately after the expiry of the period allowed for withdrawal of candidature a final list of the candidates contesting the election shall be notified on the notice board of the society.
10	The voting at the election shall be secret Ballot.
11	The ballot paper shall be in the form of Appendix C’ appended to these Rules. It shall bear the seal of the society and the counterfoil thereof shall bear the initials of the Returning Officer.
12	The names of the candidates in the ballot paper shall be arranged in alphabetical order with surname appearing first.
13	The date, time and place of voting shall be as declared in the election programme.
14	The ballot box shall be so constructed that ballot papers could be conveniently put into it but could not be taken out, without the box being unlocked.
15	On the date of the polling, the empty ballot box shall be shown to the candidates or their authorized agents, if any and present 15 minutes before the time fixed for the commencement of the poll and shall be locked and sealed in their presence.
16	Once each member voter is satisfied with his or her identity and obtaining his or her signature on the counterfoil of the ballot paper, he or she must be supplied with an authenticated ballot paper.
17	Member-Voter coming to the polling station after the expiry of the time allowed for voting shall not be allowed to vote.
18	Immediately after the completion of voting, the ballot box shall be sealed in the presence of the candidates or their authorized representative if present.
19	The counting of votes shall be done immediately after the polling is over.
20	The Returning Officer shall submit to the Chairman of the Society a report indicating the numbers of voters who voted, the number of valid and invalid votes and the votes polled by each of them shall be put on the Notice Board of the society at the conclusion of the counting of votes.
21	The names of the candidates with voters polled by each of them shall put on the Notice Board of the society at the conclusion of the counting of votes.
22	The final result of the election shall be declared in the ensuing Annual General Body Meeting or Special General Body Meeting as the case may be.
23	All the records pertaining to the election shall be carefully preserved in box duly locked and sealed by the Secretary of the society for a period of 3 months and destroyed thereafter. However, if the result of the election is disputed, the records pertaining to an election shall be preserved until the final decision of the dispute.
24	The Committee shall be constituted as enumerated under section 73(3) of the M.C.S. Act 1960.
25	If for any reasons beyond the control of the society, it is not possible to observe the time schedule under these Rules, the Returning Officer of the society may revise the same with due notice to members and with due consent of the concerned Housing Federation. The Returning Officer shall inform such revision of schedule to the Registrar.

Amendments to bring about the reforms in the new election rule

The very new law has already taken a troublesome appearance towards the people who work in an honorary capacity in housing societies. And it is because of the mandate took place with the advent of this new rule in the year of 2013 that elections for cooperatives, including housing in the state, would be entitled to the Maharashtra State Co-operative Election Authority. Resulting from this, the very roadmap became very tedious and expensive for those who were forced to take the new route. There were even times when they were misled by the election officials when it came to charging the fee to conduct elections. Due to the flouted condition of rulings, the very members were left out with the practice of shelling out more money.

Fixation through Cabinet

The housing federations combining with the government became the first one to take up the very issue and also frames the functioning of housing societies as non-profit units unlike other cooperatives such as sugar factory and milk units. A sustained follow-up being backed by some ruling party leaders in Mumbai made its way for a positive response for the government. The Cabinet also introduced major changes in the law. Henceforth, housing societies having less than 200 members shall become eligible to hold their elections in the annual general meeting every five years.

Along with such relaxation, the Cabinet made sure that all the erring management committees were made accountable. In addition to that, concerning upon all the office bearers who do not submit audited accounts and other mandatory documents to the state cooperatives department within the set deadline, the cabinet has come up with a stringent rule which states the imposition of a fine of Rs 25,000. The members must come up with their self-declarations failing which would be considered as an offense.

Also in order to bring about a crystal clear matter, a separate chapter on governance of housing societies is being created in the Maharashtra Cooperative Societies (MCS) Act, 1960. An ordinance will be promulgated later this month.

Beneficiaries

Housing societies especially having less than 200 members are usually entitled to conduct their elections in the AGM. According to the co-operation department, about 80 percent of societies fall in the under the 200-member category. However, the social reservations and a quota for women would still remain in continuance inside the management committee. In addition to this election reforms, the government must be ready to ensure transparency in the housing society managements works which will eventually help the members who seek information and right to service have hassle-free services.

An amendment entitles the bonafide member to inspect all the records, books of accounts, and correspondence of the society that too in free of cost. This decision actually came into being with an aim to activate the management in terms of misleading the members. Majority of the cases through which the registrars of societies deal with on a daily basis are against the management resulting in which the information gets hidden or fabricated.

The penalty of R25,000 will come into existence for failing to submit accounts/documents to the government and society members. The management has been entitled with more powers to deal with a defaulting member to recover dues. Transferring provisional membership to the person nominated by a deceased member has also been made possible. This is because submission of legal documents of succession takes some time, and in the meantime, the family gets affected because of lack of rightful membership.

Opposing fine

It seems to be highly contentious to impose a fine of Rs 25,000 on office-bearers who are responsible for not submitting accounts and other documents to the members and the government. The elected members work in an honorary capacity and it is a known fact that not many residents come forward to take up the responsibility. The penalty clause will surely keep the people away despite their interest.

Conclusion

On a conclusive note, we must not overlook the thin layer of another emerging issue which talks about the inadequate knowledge of housing society law. It usually gets conversed into wrong interpretations by the people of management along with residents. The new law has corrected the flaw. It envisages the societies to put its impetus on contributing towards training and education of members through the local state housing federation. Yes, it might give a birth to an additional financial burden, but that would indeed be a useful one if the parties put their involvements with the assurance of conducting the training sessions regularly by the federation.