Q.Define a consumers co-operative society and state any four of its features.

A consumers co-operative society is the consumer's own shop, built to supply honest goods at fair prices.

Definition. A consumers co-operative society is a voluntary association of consumers, registered under the co-operative law (in Maharashtra, the Maharashtra Co-operative Societies Act, 1960), which buys goods of daily use in bulk directly from producers or wholesalers and supplies them to its members at fair and reasonable prices by eliminating the profit-taking middleman. Its guiding idea is self-help through mutual help, and its aim is service to consumers rather than profit.

Four features:

1. Voluntary and open membership — Any consumer who accepts the rules may join by buying a share, and a member may leave after due notice; there is no compulsion or discrimination.
2. Service, not profit, as the motive — The society exists to supply honest goods at fair prices; any surplus is used for reserves and returned to members as a patronage bonus.
3. Elimination of middlemen — It buys directly at the source in bulk, cutting out the wholesaler-distributor-retailer chain, which is the source of its ability to sell cheaply.
4. Democratic management — It is run by a managing committee elected on the principle of 'one member, one vote', keeping control with the people and not with capital. …

Students often write only the definition and forget to list the required number of features, or list general co-operative features without connecting them to the buying and selling of goods. …