Govt yet to frame rules for amended co-op societies act

Gandhinagar: More than six months have passed since the Gujarat legislative assembly enacted the Gujarat Cooperative Societies (Amendment) Bill 2024, but govt has not yet formulated the rules governing the implementation of the act.
One of the primary rules that needs to be framed is the capping of the transfer fee when a unit of a residential society is sold.When the bill was passed in the budget session of the assembly in Feb this year, top sources in the state govt had indicated that the transfer fee is likely to be capped at Rs 50,000.
The governor granted his assent to the bill in March this year.
"The proposed rules for the act are currently under deliberation, but no final decision has been reached yet. The govt might consider further consultation with various stakeholders, which could require additional time. A notification can be issued only after the rules are approved," a senior government functionary said.
Among other rules, the state govt will have to decide on the "development charges" that are levied by many societies. According to highly placed sources in the state govt, a proposal to eliminate development charges altogether is being contemplated.
The state govt had declared that the intention of the legislation was to "ensure that the administration and management of co-operative societies is conducted in a better manner and the interests of the members of the society are safeguarded".
Through the amendment, govt inserted a new section in the Gujarat Co-operative Societies Act, 1961, which states "a co-operative housing society or a cooperative housing service society shall not collect transfer fee more than the transfer fee as may be prescribed".
While tabling the bill, minister of state for cooperation Jagdish Vishwakarma said the existing act did not have any specific provision regarding the transfer fee collected by societies from the new owner of a residential unit.
"Every year, 1,500 new housing societies are registered under the act. In the absence of a provision, the management of a society collects transfer fees from the new owner at their discretion," the minister said in the assembly.
Through the amendment of the act, the state govt had also proposed that instead of the minimum 10 members required, a co-operative housing society can now be registered with eight members.