Step 3 — Registration by the Registrar and the Certificate of Registration

The third and decisive step is the actual registration by the Registrar. On receiving the application, the Registrar scrutinises it carefully. Under Section 9 of the Maharashtra Co-operative Societies Act, 1960, if the Registrar is satisfied that the proposed society has complied with the provisions of the Act and the Rules made under it, and that its proposed bye-laws are not contrary to the Act or the Rules, he may register the society and its bye-laws. In examining the application the Registrar checks, among other things, that the minimum number of eligible members from different families residing in the area is present, that the object is a genuine co-operative one under Section 4, that the share capital and fees have actually been collected, that the name is acceptable and not deceptively similar to an existing society, and that the bye-laws are lawful.

To prevent applications from being kept pending indefinitely, the Act requires the Registrar to decide the application within a limited period fixed by the statute. If the Registrar neither registers the society nor communicates his refusal within that period, the society is treated as having been registered — a deemed-registration safeguard that protects honest promoters against administrative delay. Where the Registrar decides to refuse registration, he must communicate his order of refusal, together with the reasons for it, to the applicants, so that they know why the application failed and can either rectify the defects or pursue a remedy. …