The Maharashtra Cooperation Department is set to revolutionize the process of registering housing societies by launching a fully online system and drastically reducing the paperwork burden. Starting in the first week of January, the new portal on the Aaple Sarkar platform will cut the number of mandatory documents from a cumbersome 29 to a more manageable 19, aiming to simplify a long-pending and complex procedure.
A Digital Leap for Simpler Registration
The initiative is designed to eliminate repeated visits to deputy registrars' offices, minimize the intervention of middlemen, and significantly accelerate approvals across the state. A formal notification detailing the streamlined procedure is expected to be issued next week. Officials anticipate a substantial surge in the registration of cooperative societies once the online system goes live.
Commissioner of Cooperation, Deepak Taware, explained to the Times of India that the old process was notoriously cumbersome due to excessive documentation. "The new online system, hosted on the Aaple Sarkar web portal, will apply to all cooperative societies, including housing societies. It will also allow them to amend bye-laws. Combined with the reduced document list, this will make the process simpler, transparent and citizen-friendly," he stated.
What Changes for Applicants?
Under the revised norms, societies will only need to submit core documents essential for establishing legitimacy. The retained documents pertain to:
- Land ownership
- Construction approvals
- Promoter details
- Registered agreements
A significant list of ten documents has been dropped from the mandatory list for the online process. These include:
- Zoning certificate
- Title search report
- Development agreement
- Business projection plan
- Multiple affidavits
A senior official clarified that while the document count is reduced, all essential legal requirements remain intact. "We have retained all essential documents needed to establish the legitimacy of a society and removed those that were repetitive or could be verified through other government records," the official said.
Addressing a Major Backlog and Empowering Residents
This reform addresses growing concerns over delayed registrations, which have left lakhs of buildings in major urban centers like Mumbai and Pune functioning without formal registration. According to the state cooperation database, only about 1.25 lakh housing societies are currently registered, a fraction of the actual number.
Commissioner Taware emphasized the broader goal: "Our goal is to bring maximum societies on record. Once registered, societies can better manage finances, carry out repairs, apply for conveyance and access government services. This reform will strengthen the cooperative housing framework."
The platform will allow applicants to upload documents, track their application status in real-time, and receive digital approvals, thereby cutting delays caused by manual scrutiny. Housing society federations have welcomed the move, noting that the previous complexity discouraged residents and allowed middlemen to thrive.
A senior office-bearer of a city-level federation highlighted the practical impact: "Many societies were stuck for years because builders did not cooperate or residents could not arrange multiple documents. Fewer documents and the online process will empower residents to take charge of the registration themselves." Another member pointed out that the transparency of the online system would significantly reduce exploitation by intermediaries.
