September 1, 2025: The Bombay High Court has ruled that housing societies cannot demand welfare fees while transferring membership, reiterating that only the statutory transfer fee of Rs 25,000 is permitted. Justice N. J. Jamadar dismissed a petition filed by Tirthankar Darshan Cooperative Housing Society, which had denied membership to shop owners for refusing to pay an additional welfare fee.
“It is fairly crystallised that for transfer of membership fee, a society is precluded from charging any amount apart from the transfer fee of Rs 25,000,” Justice Jamadar said in the August 14 order.
The case arose after Subhash Jain and Vinay Jain acquired a shop in the society’s premises in July 2019 through a registered instrument. They later applied for membership, but the society failed to respond within the three-month limit set under the Maharashtra Co-operative Societies Act. The Jains then appealed to the district deputy registrar (DDR), who, in November 2023, held that they had fulfilled all requirements and directed the society to grant them membership.
In February 2025, the divisional joint registrar of the Konkan division upheld the DDR’s order, dismissing the society’s challenge. The society subsequently moved the High Court, arguing that the Jains had not complied with a precondition to pay the welfare fee, which had been introduced by a 2017 general body resolution.
Justice Jamadar, however, rejected this contention. He observed that the Jains had paid the required transfer fee of ₹25,000 along with the application fee. “The resolution to charge the welfare fee is but a camouflage to recover more amount for transfer than permissible in accordance with the government directive,” he stated.
Concluding that the refusal was “unsustainable,” Justice Jamadar said, “No interference is warranted with the impugned order in exercise of supervisory jurisdiction.”
Source: The Times of India
