Managing a cooperative housing society (CHS/the Society) involves strict adherence to procedures laid down under the respective state’s cooperative societies act and the model bye-laws. However, delays, lack of transparency and procedural lapses by the CHS managing committees often leave members uncertain about their rights and remedies.
 
This week’s queries highlight three common governance concerns: delay in transfer of share certificates after purchase of commercial premises, transparency in disposal of society assets and procedural irregularities following the resignation of a key office bearer. 
 
Delay in Transfer of Share Certificate After Purchase of Commercial Shop
Question: My Society in Mumbai has 220 residential apartments and 5 commercial shops. I have been staying here for 17 years. All the shops were owned by the builder until now. 
 
I purchased a small shop, which was registered in May 2019. The Society took a long time to give the no objection certificate (NOC) and finally issued it around 29 September (on the day of the annual general meeting - AGM) last year. We paid all the charges, including the transfer fee, later in July. 
 
On 1st November, I officially emailed the Society requesting that they transfer the share certificate into our name. However, there has been no reply despite follow-ups. After waiting for 75 days (from 1st November), I sent another email on 15th January. I had taken a bank loan against the shop (which has now been paid off) and also submitted the no dues certificate from the bank on 18 January 2026.
 
Are there any timelines that the managing committee needs to adhere to for transferring share certificates? Should I ask them to state the bye-law under which they have delayed the transfer? What action can I take against them?
 
Answer: Within 45 days of submitting all the required papers and fees to the Society, the Society should either point out any deficiencies in the documents submitted for membership of the shop or transfer the share certificate in your name.
 
If you do not receive a reply or the share certificate is not transferred within 45 days of submitting all required documents and fees by crossed cheque in the name of the society, you are eligible to file a complaint with the DR.
 
With photocopies of all the papers submitted to the Society (including the photocopy of the sale deed of the shop), copies of payment receipts given to the Society and the copy of the share certificate of the said shop, under bye-law no 174(A)(iii), make a complaint to the deputy registrar (DR) of cooperative societies for not transferring the share certificate of the shop in your name. You have to be very persuasive in this respect to obtain an order from the DR directing the society to transfer the share certificate in your name.
 
For your complaint, the DR will issue an order directing the Society to transfer the share certificate in your name. A copy of the order will also be sent to you for follow-up. After ninety days of submitting the application to the Society, if no reply is received, you become a deemed member of the Society.
 
After 15 days of submitting the complaint to the DR, send a reminder. You may also file a right to information (RTI) application with the public information officer (PIO), requesting details of the action taken by the DR on your complaint. 
 
If, despite submitting all papers and obtaining the deputy registrar’s order under bye-law no. 174(A)(iii), the share certificate is not transferred, you may file an appeal before the DR under sections 22(2) and 23 of the Maharashtra Cooperative Societies Act, 1960. The DR will conduct a hearing by calling both you and the Society’s office bearers and pass an order in your favour directing the transfer of the share certificate.
 
If, within 15 days of receiving the order, the Society still fails to transfer the share certificate, you may again approach the DR with a copy of the order. Since your case is simple, you need not hire the services of a lawyer. You may present and argue the matter yourself before the deputy registrar. The deputy registrar may also appoint an authorised officer by dissolving the managing committee and ensure transfer of the share certificate in your name.
 
You will need to diligently follow all the steps mentioned above to obtain the transfer of the share certificate. If you are persistent in your complaint, you will receive an order directing the society to transfer the share certificate of the shop purchased by you.
 
Alleged Irregularity in Sale of Scrap and Transparency Concerns
Question: My Society got the water pipes changed and the old pipes were sold. Though the managing committee (MC) took three quotations and involved one non-member of the managing committee to maintain transparency, they neither issued a notice inviting residents to come forward to join the process nor invited nominations. The MC asked one resident to be present, who is a close friend of the secretary and treasurer.
 
How can we raise this issue, and under which bye-law can we seek an explanation? It is possible they fudged the funds. If the intention was clear, why was a general notice not issued inviting residents to come forward or nominate someone? Please advise the process for challenging the MC so that they do not repeat such acts in future.
 
Answer:  For irregularity in calling tenders for the sale of the Society’s scrap, you can write a complaint against the managing committee of the Society to the DR of cooperative societies under bye-law no. 174(A)(xii).
 
You should be persuasive in your complaint. After 15 days, send a reminder to the DR, and also file an RTI application with the PIO of the DR office, seeking information on the action taken on your complaint against the society.
 
Society Refusing Written Complaints After Secretary’s Resignation
Question: In our Society, the secretary resigned after serving for a few years due to certain conflicts about wrongly handled situations. Currently, the chairman has appointed a new chairman and shifted himself to the treasurer’s post, with his resignation kept on hold up to valid terms.
 
In this situation, if members of the Society have problems regarding parking and intimate the chairman, the Society does not accept the written letter and gives a telephonic notice not to submit any correspondence, as there is no secretary. Please advise.
 
Answer:  As per the model bye-laws, the chairman of the Society may resign his office as chairman by a letter addressed to the secretary of the Society. The secretary or treasurer of the Society may resign his office as secretary or treasurer by a letter addressed to the chairman of the Society. The chairman/secretary/treasurer’s resignation will be effective only after acceptance and the handing over of the charge to the newly elected chairman/secretary/treasurer, as the case may be. The managing committee may accept the resignation of the office of the chairman/secretary/treasurer only after it is satisfied that the chairman or as the case may be, the secretary or treasurer of the Society has brought up to date the work entrusted to him and has produced the entire papers and property of the Society, in his possession, before the managing committee.
 
Also, as per the bye-laws, resignation of any member or office bearer is effective from the date it is accepted by the managing committee or on expiry of the period of one month from the date of the receipt of the letter or resignation by the chairman or the secretary of the Society, whichever is earlier. 
 
Further, as per Section 73 CB, and as per the instructions issued by the State Cooperative Election Authority, the managing committee may fill a casual vacancy on the Committee by nomination out of the same class of active members in respect of which the casual vacancy has arisen.
 
If the secretary has resigned, then among the other managing committee members, some other person can be elected as secretary, which your Society’s managing committee has not done. 
 
As per your description, the secretary has resigned. The chairman also resigned and became the new treasurer, and appointed a new chairman (we assume the person is an existing member of the managing committee). So, what about the existing treasure? Has he also resigned?
 
Write a letter to the managing committee of the Society asking them to properly elect a secretary (and chairman and treasurer, in case the existing ones have resigned) from among the existing managing committee members, failing which you will make a complaint to the deputy registrar for mismanagement of the Society’s managing committee.
 
NOTE
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Disclaimer: The guidance provided in these columns and on our Legal Helpline is on the sole basis of the facts provided by the reader/questioner and does not amount to formal legal advice in any form whatsoever. 
 
(Shirish Shanbhag has an MSc in Organic Chemistry, Diploma in Higher Education, and a Diploma in French and has completed his LL.B. in first class in 2021. Before his retirement, he was a junior college teacher at Patkar College from July 1980 to May 2012, teaching theoretical and practical chemistry. Post-retirement in 2012, he started providing guidance and counselling to people on several issues, specifically focusing on cooperative housing society-related matters. He has over 30 years of hands-on experience in all matters about housing societies and can provide out-of-box solutions for any practical issue.)