Housing society committees in Maharashtra: elections, eligibility and powers after the 2019 law

Rules and rates as of 21 October 2026.

Most Mumbai and Pune flat owners meet their housing society's managing committee only when a bill looks wrong or a repair drags on. Yet this small group of neighbours signs the cheques, decides transfer applications and, in a redevelopment, carries the building's biggest decisions to the general body. Since 2019, Maharashtra law has a separate rulebook for how that committee is formed, who may sit on it and how it can be challenged. This explainer walks through it.

Where the rules sit

The Maharashtra Co-operative Societies (Amendment) Act, 2019 (Maharashtra Act No. XXIII of 2019) added Chapter XIII-B, sections 154B to 154B-31, to the Maharashtra Co-operative Societies Act, 1960. It was published in the Gazette on 23 July 2019 and is deemed to have come into force on 9 March 2019, the date of the ordinance it replaced.

Section 154B(1) lists which general sections of the Act still apply to housing societies. They include section 73CB (co-operative elections), section 75 (annual general body meeting), section 76 (special general meetings), section 77A and section 78A (supersession of a committee or removal of a member). Section 154B(2) switches others off, including section 78.

Below the Act sit the Rules and then your society's bye-laws. Many details, including how a housing society is to be managed, are left by section 154B-25 to be "prescribed" in the Rules.

How the committee is put together

Section 154B-19 sets the frame:

• Size. The committee has as many members as the State Government decides by notification or special order.
• When it exists. It stands constituted when the returning officer declares the result and more than two-thirds of the seats have been filled. A fraction is rounded up.
• Term. Five years from the first meeting of the new committee. The office bearers' term ends with the committee's.
• Vacancies. A casual vacancy may be filled by co-option, only for the rest of the term.

Section 154B-21 reserves two seats for women on every committee (unless all members are women). Section 154B-20 reserves one seat each for SC/ST, OBC and VJ/NT/SBC members, but only on committees the State Government specifies by order. Under section 154B-22, a reserved seat left empty because nobody eligible stood does not count towards the committee's strength or quorum.

The state's proposed model bye-laws give a table of committee sizes, from 11 seats for up to 100 members to 19 for 501 or more. That document is marked "proposed", predates the 2019 chapter, and section 154B-19 now hands the decision to the government. Check what your registered bye-laws say and treat the table as a guide only.

Who cannot stand

Section 154B-23 bars a person from being elected, co-opted or nominated to the committee if, among other grounds, they are a defaulter of any society, or they run a business of letting, sub-letting or selling flats in their own society. A sitting member who becomes disqualified loses the seat. For some grounds, including being held responsible for loss to the society under the Act, the bar lasts five years.

Associate members, typically a spouse or relative added to the share certificate, can vote and stand for election only with the prior written consent of the member (sections 154B-10 and 154B-11).

Who runs the election

The 2019 Act added a proviso to section 73CB: in a housing society with up to 250 members, the committee election "shall be conducted by the said housing society" in the manner prescribed. Larger societies stay with the State Co-operative Election Authority.

The procedure for the smaller societies was first published as draft rules on 24 October 2019 (notification CSR 0818/C.R.83/13-C, new rules 76-A to 76-P). The draft proposed that:

• the committee appoints a returning officer from a panel approved by the State Co-operative Election Authority at least 60 days before its term ends, failing which the Registrar appoints one. A member, auditor or employee of the society cannot be the returning officer;
• a provisional voters' list goes up at least 60 days before the poll, with 10 days for claims and objections;
• voting is at a special general meeting, by show of hands unless more than one-fifth of members present demand a secret ballot;
• if candidates do not exceed seats, they are declared elected unopposed, and the new committee then elects its chairman, secretary and treasurer.

These are the draft's terms. Final rules are reported to have been notified in 2021; the editor should confirm the final text before readers rely on any timeline above.

Powers, and the limits on them

The proposed model bye-laws vest management of the society in the committee, subject to the general body's directions. They require it to meet at least once a month, make members jointly and severally responsible for its decisions, and give the chairman a casting vote. A member who misses three consecutive monthly meetings without leave can lose the seat.

The general body is where members hold the committee to account. The same bye-laws require the annual general body meeting on or before 30 September and set the quorum at two-thirds of members or 20, whichever is less.

Three tools exist if things go wrong:

• No-confidence. Under section 154B-24, an office bearer is removed if the committee passes a no-confidence motion by at least two-thirds of members present and voting.
• Registrar's directions. Under section 154B-27, if a society does not do what the law requires, the Registrar can direct it to act and, if it still does not, act at the society's cost, recoverable from the officer responsible.
• Supersession. Section 78A, which lets the Registrar supersede a committee or remove a member, applies to housing societies through section 154B(1).

Your right to see the papers

Section 154B-8 lets every member inspect, free, the bye-laws, audited accounts, the list of committee members and minutes of meetings at the society office. Copies must be supplied within 45 days of a written request and payment of the Registrar's fee. Failing to supply them is an offence under section 146, with a fine under section 147 of ₹100 for each day after the 45 days, up to ₹5,000.

Worked example

Suppose you ask for the last three years' committee minutes and pay the fee on 1 June 2026. The 45-day period ends on 16 July 2026.

• Copies handed over on 31 July: 15 days late. ₹100 × 15 = ₹1,500.
• Copies handed over on 30 August: 45 days late. ₹100 × 45 = ₹4,500.
• Any delay of 50 days or more hits the cap: ₹100 × 50 = ₹5,000.

The fine is a penalty on the person responsible, not money paid to you. Its practical use is that a dated written request starts a clock everyone can count.

The numbers side by side

Society size	General body quorum (2/3 or 20, lower)	Committee seats in proposed bye-laws	Two-thirds of those seats, fraction rounded up (s.154B-19(2))
15 members	10	11	8
24 members	16	11	8
150 members	20	13	9
250 members	20	15	10

A 250-member society is the largest that runs its own committee election.

What is changing in 2026

L.A. Bill No. XXIX of 2026, introduced in the Assembly on 25 March 2026, would rewrite section 73F so that a person elected to more than one seat must give up all but one within 15 days, with the vacancy filled by nomination within a month. Section 73F is one of those applied to housing societies. The Bill also stops the government exempting any society from section 73CB. Whether it has been passed and notified is for the editor to confirm.

The Maharashtra Co-operative Societies (Amendment) Rules, 2026 added a chapter for housing societies, and summaries describe new rules on general body meetings, an election fund and the committee's spending. Read your society's copy before assuming any figure.

For a dispute about an election or a committee decision, the Deputy or Assistant Registrar's office for your ward is the first stop, and a lawyer who practises co-operative law can tell you which forum fits.