Housing society membership limit — no more members than flats (Section 154B-5)

A builder has handed over 48 flats, but the society's register of members shows 51 names. Or a plot-owners society is asked to take on the buyers of flats that one of its plot owners built and sold. Both situations raise the same question: how many members can a co-operative housing society actually have?

What the provision says

Section 154B-5 of the Maharashtra Co-operative Societies Act, 1960 — part of Chapter XIII-B, the chapter that applies specifically to housing societies — says that a housing society shall not admit to its membership persons exceeding the number of flats or plots, as the case may be, available for allotment in that co-operative housing society.

The section carries one proviso. A plot-owners co-operative housing society may admit an organisation of flat purchasers — a co-operative housing society, a company, an association and the like — in place of the original plot-owner member, where that plot owner had constructed and sold flats as per prevailing rules.

What it means in practice

The ceiling is set by the number of units available for allotment, not by how many people would like to join. A society with 48 flats cannot carry 49 memberships for those 48 flats. A member selling and moving out does not change the count either: the purchaser must apply for and acquire that same membership, and for that the society's dues must be paid first.

The proviso covers one specific situation rather than creating a general exception. Where a plot owner who was a member of a plot-owners society built flats on that plot and sold them as per prevailing rules, the body of those flat purchasers may be admitted as a member in that plot owner's place — in place of the original member, not in addition to him.

What your committee should do

1. 1Count the flats or plots available for allotment in your society and treat that number as the ceiling on memberships.
2. 2Check that number against your register of members before any new admission is placed before the committee.
3. 3If an application would take the register past that number, do not admit it, and record the reason in the minutes.
4. 4In a plot-owners society where a plot owner built and sold flats as per prevailing rules, you may admit the purchasers' organisation in that plot owner's place — not as an extra member. Ending an existing membership is a separate matter — see removal of a member from a housing society.