Many of us have heard about bye-laws of the Co-operative Housing Society but few of us have a clear concept on this topic. In simple words, the meaning of bye-laws is the rules and regulations prescribed by the Co-operative Housing Society to control the members as well as other activities of the Society. Bye-laws also hold other information such as the name of the Co-operative Housing Society, address of the Co-operative Housing Society and other relevant information of the Co-operative Housing Society. Actually, bye-laws are the set of rules for the Co-operative Housing Society. Members who want to form Co-operative Housing Society Need to formulate bye-laws for its formation otherwise they will face problems to form the Co-operative Housing Society. These bye-laws are different for every Co-operative Housing Society; they have their own set of rules and regulations to control their activities and other things. But there are some similar things such as the purpose of the Co-operative Housing Society, names of the members, election of directors, how meetings are conducted and so on. It also contains the procedures for its amendment and other information such as who can amend these bye-laws and so on. The registrar of the Co-operative Housing Society has many functions and responsibilities regarding these bye-laws. The registrar sees that the bye-laws are not violated by any of the members of the Co-operative Society when it comes before him. It should be remembered that for registration of the Co-operative Housing Society, the society has to provide bye-laws along with the application of registration and this statement is given in Rule 9(3) under the Co-operative Housing Societies Rules, 2011. The exact statement of the Rules, 2011 as follows – Rule 9 sub-rule (3) “With every application, there shall be submitted, duly signed by the applicants, four copies of the bye-laws which the society proposes to adopt”.
Other information we should know about bye-laws are as follows (The Co-operative Housing Societies Rules, 2011)–
- “Rule 10 defines Registration of Society:”
“(1) On receipt of the application, the Registrar shall satisfy himself that the application and the bye-laws are in conformity with the provision of the Act, the Rules and the bye-laws are suitable for – (a) carrying out the objects of the society, and (b) ensuring the safe conduct of the business of the society.”
“(2) When a society is registered, the Registrar shall grant Certificate of Registration in Form II.”
“(3) On the registration of a society, four copies of its approved bye-laws as specified under section 20 shall be stamped with the official seal of the Registrar, one of the said copies shall be retained in the office of the Registrar, one copy together with Certificate of Registration in Form II shall be communicated by hand or by registered post with acknowledgement due to the society or the Chief Promoter of the society. A copy of the Certificate of Registration in Form II shall be sent to the District Cooperative Union or the State Cooperative Union as the case may be.”
“(4) If the society intends to be a member of a Central Society, a Federal Society or an Apex Society, another copy of the approved bye-laws shall be sent to such Central or Federal or Apex society.”
2. “Rule 12 defines Amendment of bye-laws”:
“A cooperative society may amend its bye-laws under section 19 and each such amendment shall be submitted to the Registrar for registration in Form VIII”.
3. “Rule 13 defines Making of Bye-laws”:
“(1) Every Cooperative society shall make bye-laws in conformity with section 20.”
“ (2) Bye-Laws of Cooperative Society shall also include – Where it is a consumer‟ society, declaration of periodical rebates in appropriate cases on the purchase made from the society by the member, making provision for the issue of shares against the rebates so declared.”
“3) Where there is a conflict between the rules and the bye-laws, the provision of the Rules shall prevail.”
There are other rules mentioned in the Co-operative Housing Societies Rules, 2011, we must look in for. The above explanation provides us with some knowledge about making of bye-laws, amendment of bye-laws and so on. If we talk frankly, we will find that bye-laws are the backbone of the Co-operative Societies because most of the rules and regulations of the Co-operative society is related to the bye-laws. For example, Duties and responsibilities of the members and society are also included in the bye-laws, election, general meeting, notice all these are given under bye-laws. A Co-operative Housing Society can also change its liability by amending the bye-laws. So, we can conclude that it is necessary to formulate bye-laws for different purposes of the Co-operative Housing Society.
More information on bye-laws of the Society (Contents of bye-laws):
- Name and Address of the Society, change of name and address, etc
- Interpretations that is the exact meaning of the commonly used terms
- Area of Operation and objectives of the society
- Raising funds and its utilisation
- Rights of members
- Liabilities and responsibilities of the members
- Co-operative Housing Society charges
- Duties and powers of the Co-operative Society
- General meeting
- Affairs of society
- Book-keeping
- Accounts Audit and so on
The above body provides us with full knowledge of bye-laws.
Conclusion:
We have written this article to provide you with great knowledge of bye-laws and to make you understand the importance of it. If anyone faces problems during formulating the bye-laws then they can follow this article or otherwise can communicate to an expert for writing the bye-laws.