Society Registration

Society Registration

A society is the simplest form of a Non-Governmental Organisation in India and can be registered to operate on state level or national level for educational, charitable, religious, welfare or for promotion of art, music, culture, etc., In India, the registration of a society is done under The Societies Registration Act, 1860.

Well, to form into a society at least seven persons with common intent must come together and adopt a memorandum of association and bylaws for the functioning of the NGO. In India most of the state government have adopted The Societies Registration Act, 1860 as a tool to improve registration of societies and to ensure better maintenance of the society as per law. There are two types of society, one is for National Level Society, and another one is State Level Society. Minimum of seven people must come together with a common purpose of being formed into society. However, in the case of national level society, the members / desirous person must represent seven different states. The process of registering NGO as society differs from state to state. We shall extend our assistance in drafting, filing and follow up with the registrar of societies until its registration.

    • State Vs National Level: There must be seven-person as Desirous Person / Governing Body to form a society however for national level they must represent seven different states.
    • No Distribution of Profit: The society though can engage in profit generation activities, however the profits of such a NGO cannot be shared to its members.
    • No Blood Relative: Among the founder members/governing body there must not be any blood relative. The president of the society has to give an affidavit to this effect that there is no blood relative in the gov body.

MOA & Rules of Society: The MOA of the society prescribe the objects for which it is created, and the rules are the guidelines for internal working of the society.

Registration Process

  • Selection of Name- First thing is to select a unique name of your society, the name should not violate or infringes someone else name or trademark. The president of the proposed society shall be filing an affidavit that the name is not same or similar to any other NGO.
  • Drafting of MOA & Rules- The MOA of the society describes the main object for which it is being formed, whereas the rules is for internal affairs of the society such as, quorum of meetings, powers and responsibilities of the official positions of president, secretary or treasurer.
  • Registration of Society- The registrar of societies is then approached with an application along with the signed MOA, by rules, affidavits and KYC documents of desirous person and officials. After verification of documents the Certificate of Registration of Society is issued.
  • PAN, TAN- After registration of the society the next step is to apply for allotment of Pan Number and TAN and thereafter opening of a bank A/c for collection of membership fees, subscription charges or donations as the case may be.
  • Income Tax Benefits: To get benefits under Income Tax from taxation and to attract more donation then society can go for registration under 12A/AA or 80G of Income Tax Act, 1961.

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