Maharashtra's model bye-laws — what they actually prescribe
The specific numbers in Maharashtra's model bye-laws — fund rates, committee seats, election timing, and the AGM checklist — with the bye-law number for each.
Written by the Societly team
Last verified 20 September 2026 · 2 sources
Most Maharashtra committees have never actually read their own bye-laws cover to cover. They know "the format" by reputation — a sinking fund exists, the AGM happens in September, the committee has some fixed number of seats — without knowing the actual bye-law number or the actual figure. That's unusual, because Maharashtra is one of the few states where there is an actual, official, numbered document to check: the Model Bye-Laws of Cooperative Housing Society, issued by the Commissioner for Cooperation. Every number below cites the bye-law it comes from.
The fund contribution rates, exactly
Bye-law 13 requires every society to create and maintain specific funds, at minimum rates tied to construction cost — not to whatever the committee feels like collecting:
- Repairs and Maintenance Fund (bye-law 13(a)) — minimum 0.75% per annum of each flat's construction cost, as certified by the architect, for normal recurring repairs.
- Sinking Fund (bye-law 13(c)) — minimum 0.25% per annum of each flat's construction cost, excluding the proportionate cost of land, for reconstruction or structural strengthening work the society's architect certifies as necessary.
- Education and Training Fund (bye-law 13(d)) — ₹10 per member per month, or whatever the general body decides above that floor.
These are minimums the general body can raise, not defaults it can ignore. A society collecting less than 0.75%/0.25% of construction cost is under-collecting against its own bye-laws, not just against good practice — worth checking against your last few years of accounts. What your auditor will ask for covers how an auditor traces fund balances back to actual fixed deposits, which is exactly where a shortfall here first becomes visible.
The committee's seats are not a round number you pick
Bye-law 113 fixes the managing committee's size against the society's own membership count, with reserved seats built in — this is not something a general body can shrink to a convenient number:
| Members in society | General seats | Women | SC/ST | OBC | VJ/NT/SBC | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Up to 100 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 11 |
| 101–200 | 8 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 13 |
| 201–300 | 10 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 15 |
| 301–500 | 12 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 17 |
| 501 and above | 14 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 19 |
Bye-law 114 sets the term: elections for the entire committee happen once every five years, conducted by the State Cooperative Election Authority, not run in-house. The committee can also co-opt up to two "Expert Directors" and two "Functional Directors" for their specific skills — but co-opted members never get a vote and never count toward the committee's official strength.
The AGM: a fixed date and a fixed agenda
Two provisions do the work here, and they are commonly mis-cited as one number — worth getting right if you're quoting a bye-law to your own committee.
Bye-law 93 fixes the date: the AGM must be held on or before 30 September each year, "as there is no provision for extension of time to hold AGBM." Missing it isn't a soft deadline — bye-law 93(b) makes default grounds for disqualification and action under the Act.
Bye-law 94 lists eleven specific items the AGM must transact — not a free-form discussion. Among them: reading last year's minutes, receiving the committee's annual report and accounts, considering the auditor's report, receiving the committee's response to audit objections, placing next year's budget, appointing the auditor from the state-approved panel, and declaring the date of committee elections when due. A committee that treats the AGM as "presenting the accounts and taking questions" is skipping business the bye-laws actually require.
Once the meeting happens, what belongs in the minutes and the exact circulation timetable — bye-law 107, not 94 — is its own question, covered there in full.
A model is a starting point, not automatically your bye-laws
One thing worth being precise about: the "model" bye-laws are the template the Commissioner for Cooperation publishes for new societies to adopt at registration. A specific society's registered bye-laws — after any local amendments approved by the Registrar — are what actually governs it. In practice the vast majority of societies register the model as-is or with minor tweaks, which is why these numbers are safe to treat as the default. But if a clause matters to a real dispute, check your own society's registered copy, not the template.
This explains what the model bye-laws say; it is not legal advice for a specific dispute. Whether your society's registered bye-laws match the model, and what to do if a specific number differs, is a question for a Maharashtra advocate who practises cooperative society law.
The short version
- Repair Fund: min 0.75%/year of construction cost (bye-law 13a). Sinking Fund: min 0.25%/year (bye-law 13c). Education & Training Fund: ₹10/member/month (bye-law 13d). All are floors, not caps.
- Committee size scales with membership and always includes reserved seats for women, SC/ST, OBC and VJ/NT/SBC (bye-law 113) — not a number the general body can pick freely.
- Elections every 5 years, run by the State Cooperative Election Authority, not the society itself (bye-law 114).
- AGM by 30 September, no extensions (bye-law 93), transacting eleven specific items every year (bye-law 94) — not an open-agenda discussion.
- Draft minutes within 3 months, circulated within 15 days — bye-law 107, detailed in AGM minutes: what to record.
- The model is a template; your society's own registered bye-laws, after any approved amendments, are what actually binds it.
Sources
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