Goa Gazette, No. 2627-26, 28 September 2026

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Reg. No. RNP/GOA/32/2024-2026

RNI No. GOAENG/2002/6410

Panaji, ²⁸th September, ²⁰²⁶ (Asvina ⁶, ¹⁹⁴⁸) SERIES I No. 26

PUBLISHED BY AUTHORITY

EXTRAORDINARY

No. 2

GOVERNMENT OF GOA

Department of Law

Legal Affairs Division

Notification

7/24/2026-LA/181 Date : 28-Sep-2026 The Goa Co-operative Societies (Amendment) Act, 2026 (Goa Act 23 of 2026), which has been passed by the Legislative Assembly of Goa on 02/09/2026 and assented to by the Governor of Goa on 22/09/2026, is hereby published for the general information of the public.

Dnyaneshwar Raut Dessai, Joint Secretary (Law).

Porvorim.

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The Goa Co-operative Societies (Amendment) Act, 2026

(Goa Act 23 of 2026) [22-09-2026]

AN

ACT

further to amend the Goa Co-operative Societies Act, 2001 (Goa Act 36 of 2001).

BE it enacted by the Legislative Assembly of Goa in the Seventy-seventh Year of the Republic of India as follows: —

1. Short title and commencement.— (1) This Act may be called the Goa Co-operative Societies (Amendment) Act, 2026.

(2) It shall be deemed to have come into force on the 6th day of July, 2026.

Suggestions are welcomed on e-mail: [email protected] 1561OFFICIAL GAZETTE — GOVT. OF GOA SERIES I No. 26 (EXTRAORDINARY No. 2) 28TH SEPTEMBER, 2026 2. Amendment of Section 2.— In Section 2 of the Goa Co-operative Societies Act, 2001 (Goa Act 36 of 2001) (hereinafter referred to as the "principal Act"), in Clause (43), after the words "this Act", the words "and includes multipurpose society or any other society as may be notified by the Government from time to time" shall be inserted.

3. Amendment of Section 6.— In Section 6 of the principal Act, after second proviso, the following proviso shall be inserted, namely:—

"Provided also that dwelling units constructed prior to coming into force of the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016 (Central Act 16 of 2016), and having three or more dwelling units in such building who could not form any type of housing society as specified under this Act or rules framed thereunder, may appoint a person among themselves as chief promoter to file an application before Registrar of Co-operative Societies accompanied by Notarized copies of Agreements, registered or unregistered instrument of sale or conveyance deed executed by builder and/or land owner, in favour of such apartment or flat owners evidencing transfer of property, rights therein and payment of consideration. Such application shall be filed by Chief Promoter not later than the date as shall be notified by the Government, alongwith such other documents as may be prescribed and the occupancy certificate, if any, issued by local authority.

4. Amendment of Section 7.— In Section 7 of the principal Act,—

(i) in sub-section (1), for the words "four copies", the words "two copies" shall be substituted;

(ii) in sub-section (2), in Clause (b), for the existing proviso, the following proviso shall be substituted, namely:—

"Provided that in case where a co-operative housing society consists of more than five persons in accordance with the scheme of housing on the plot of land mentioned in the objects of the society, the application shall be signed by not less than such total number of members as may be prescribed".

5. Amendment of Section 28.— In Section 28 of the principal Act, in sub-section (9), after the proviso, the following Explanation shall be inserted, namely:—

"Explanation.— For the purposes of this section, conducting meeting virtually shall be considered as valid. However, while election of board members vote shall be exercised personally."

6. Amendment of Section 28A.— In Section 28A of the principal Act, the following proviso shall be inserted, namely:—

"Provided that in case of a cooperative bank, restriction on holding of shares by a member thereof shall be as specified by the Reserve Bank of India from time to time".

7. Amendment of Section 42.— In Section 42 of the principal Act, in sub-section (2), after Clause (f), the following clause shall be inserted, namely:—

"(g) Loan shall be sanctioned on such terms and conditions which are in consonance to the rules made under this Act.".

8. Amendment of Section 58.— In Section 58 of the principal Act, in sub-section (3), Clause (d) shall be omitted.

9. Amendment of Section 59.— In Section 59 of the principal Act,—

(i) in sub-section (6), for the first proviso, the following proviso shall be substituted, namely:—

"Provided that, every member of the Board of Directors shall submit a self declaration cum undertaking within fifteen days from assuming the office, in such form as may be prescribed. Any member of the Board of Directors who fails to submit such declaration within specified period shall be deemed to have vacated his office. Such member shall also file annual returns about their movable and immovable property, loan transactions and their dealings with the other societies/banks in the form specified by the Registrar from time to time depending upon the type of society:";

(ii) in sub-section (11), after the words "continue on the board", the words "of any society" shall be inserted.

10. Amendment of Section 60.— In Section 60 of the principal Act,—

(i) in sub-section (2), after Clause (c), the following clause shall be inserted, namely:—

"(d) has not undergone one-week training on cooperative management within six months from the date of being chosen as a Director.";

(ii) after sub-section (3), the following sub-sections shall be inserted, namely:—

"(4) In order to be eligible for being chosen as a Director on the board of any Apex or Federal society, he shall,—

(a) have been the elected member of the Board of the society he is representing for atleast five years;

(b) be representing a society having earned net profit for continuous period of three years;

(c) be representing a society which is functional and have posted continuous growth in turnover for three years preceding the election;

(d) be representing a society having complied with the statutory requirement specified under the Act.

(5) If member on the board of Apex society or Federal society is disqualified and/or penalized under the provision of the Act, such member shall forthwith cease to be a member on Board of Directors and deemed to have vacated his office as director on the Apex or Federal society:

Provided that if remaining directors allow any of such disqualified director to continue on the board then entire board of directors of such Apex or Federal society shall be deemed to have been disqualified and all such directors shall cease to continue on the board.".

11. Substitution of Section 61.— For Section 61 of the principal Act, the following Section shall be substituted, namely:—

"61. Disqualification of all directors of the board.— (1) Notwithstanding anything contained in the foregoing section, the Registrar, after affording reasonable opportunity of being heard to the Directors, disqualify all the directors of the board and such directors shall be ineligible to continue as directors of any society for a period of six years, if during their term as directors of the society,—

(a) annual general meeting is not conducted within three months of closure of the society's accounting year;

(b) a requisitioned general meeting is not conducted within the specified time;

(c) audited accounts for the preceding co-operative year is not placed before the Annual General Body Meeting;

(d) they allow any of disqualified directors to continue on the board;

(e) they did not file returns under section 81 of the Act, in any electronic mode or in the module provided, within thirty days from the date of Annual General Body Meeting;

(f) they are held responsible for not providing the information as required under section 32 of the Act;

(g) they have failed to start business of society as per the main objects specified under the bye- laws;

(h) they have failed to take any coercive action on recovery of overdue loan account which are classified as Non-Performing Assets, by following due procedure.

(2) If it is proved that the aforesaid omission or commission was with the consent or connivance of or is attributed to any gross negligence on the part of any Auditor, Director, Chief Executive, Managing Director or any other officer of the society, such Auditor, Director, Chief Executive, Managing Director or any other officer of the society shall be guilty and shall be liable for penalty which shall not be less than rupees one hundred but not exceed rupees twenty-five thousand.".

12. Amendment of Section 62.— In Section 62 of the principal Act, in sub-section (1), in Clause (f),—

(i) sub-clause (ii) shall be omitted;

(ii) sub-clauses (iii), (iv), (v) and (vi) shall be re-numbered as sub-clauses (vii), (viii), (ix) and (x) respectively and before sub-clause (vii) as so renumbered, the following clauses shall be inserted, namely:—

"(ii) to recruit new staff, holding the certificate of co-operative training for minimum six months duration from recognized co-operative training institute;

(iii) to organize training for the existing employees through a recognized institution and periodic skill upgradation;

(iv) to fix staff strength based on the guidelines issued by the Registrar;

(v) to recruit new staff as per the recommendation of the staff assessment and selection committee constituted as per the guidelines of the Registrar of Co-operative societies;

(vi) to frame service rules for internal promotion, transfer and all other service conditions.".

13. Amendment of Section 67A.— In Section 67A of the principal Act,—

(i) in sub-section (3), for the words, "The Board of Directors or administrator", the word "Administrator" shall be substituted;

(ii) after sub-section (3), the following sub-section shall be inserted, namely:—

"(3a) The term of the appointed board of directors or director, as the case may be, shall be co- terminous with the term of the elected board of directors or director.".

14. Substitution of Section 70.— For Section 70 of the principal Act, the following section shall be substituted, namely:—

"70. Qualifications of Chief Executive Officer or any other officer.— The qualifications for the appointment of the chief executive officer or any other officer of society shall be such as may be notified by the Government.".

15. Amendment of Section 71.— In Section 71 of the principal Act, in sub-section (1), in Clause (e), the first and third proviso shall be omitted.

16. Amendment of Section 72.— In Section 72 of the principal Act, in sub-section (2), for the words "six months," the words "three months" shall be substituted.

17. Amendment of Section 73.— In Section 73 of the principal Act, for sub-section (4), the following sub-section shall be substituted, namely:—

"(4) Every society, shall prepare the Receipt and Payment statements/Trial Balance/Trading/ /Manufacturing Accounts, Profit and Loss Account/Income and Expenditure Account and Balance Sheet in the manner as specified in the rules framed under the Act and submit it to the Registrar and the auditor latest by 30th April of every year.".

18. Amendment of Section 74.— In Section 74 of the principal Act,

(i) for sub-sections (3) and (4), the following sub-sections shall be respectively substituted, namely:—

"(3) Every society shall cause it's accounts to be audited by an auditor referred to in sub-section (2) appointed by the Registrar:

Provided that in case of cooperative bank, the prior approval of the Reserve Bank of India shall be obtained:

Provided further that same auditor shall not be appointed consecutively for more than two years.

(4) The accounts of every society for the financial year ending 31st March shall be audited within three months of the close of the financial year to which such accounts relate.

Provided that the Registrar may in any particular case, extend the aforesaid period by such period as he may consider necessary where he is satisfied that such extension shall be in the interest of the society:

Provided further that in the event of pendency of audit, the Registrar shall appoint an auditor from the panel of auditors constituted under sub-section (2) and cause the audit.

(ii) for sub-section (9), the following sub-section shall be substituted, namely:—

"(9) Notwithstanding anything contained in this section and Section 75, in case of co-operative housing society, self-help groups and panivatap societies, the chief executive officer of such society shall prepare the statements of accounts and audit report and submit to the Board. The Board shall discuss in its meeting the statements of accounts and the audit report so submitted by the chief executive officer and record its approval and place such statements of accounts and the audit report before the general body by 30th June for its consideration. The chief executive officer while preparing the statements of accounts and audit report shall exercise all due diligence and exercise the powers and duties of the auditor as specified under Section 75 of the Act:

Provided that in all such cases where the annual statement of accounts and audit report is prepared by the chief executive officer, such audit report and statement of accounts, after due approval by the General Body, shall be submitted to the Assistant Registrar for scrutiny:

Provided further that any discrepancies or shortcoming pointed out by the Assistant Registrar on such statement of accounts or audit report those shall be made good by the board of directors of such society. Any audit compliance in such statement of accounts or audit report shall be placed before the General Body and a copy of the action taken on such audit compliances shall be submitted to the Assistant Registrar:

Provided also that in case the chief executive officer is not capable of preparing such statement of accounts and audit report as required under this section then, the board of directors may adopt a resolution to appoint an auditor from panel of auditors constituted under this section and obtain audit report from such auditor and submit it to Assistant Registrar for scrutiny.".

19. Amendment of Section 75.— In Section 75 of the principal Act,—

(i) for sub-section (8), the following sub-section shall be substituted, namely:—

"(8) In the event of mismanagement, misappropriation of society's fund, the auditor shall file special report to the Registrar, failing which, he shall be held responsible for willful omission or failure to report to the Registrar which shall constitute an offence under the Act and he be removed from the Panel of Auditors.";

(ii) after sub-section (8), the following sub-section shall be inserted, namely";

"(9) In the event of criminal breach of trust, an officer not below the rank of Co-operative Officer, after obtaining the approval from the Registrar, shall require the chief executive officer or Managing Director or any other officer to file first information report (FIR) to the concerned police station".

20. Amendment of Section 76B.— In Section 76B of the principal Act,—

(i) for the existing title, the following title shall be substituted, namely:—

"Inspection and Scrutiny of Co-operative Credit Society and Other Co-operative Societies."1565 OFFICIAL GAZETTE — GOVT. OF GOA SERIES I No. 26 (EXTRAORDINARY No. 2) 28TH SEPTEMBER, 2026 (ii) for sub-section (1), the following sub-section shall be substituted, namely:—

Notwithstanding anything to contrary contained in Section 76A of the Act, the Registrar shall, atleast once in a financial year, cause an inspection of books of accounts of co-operative credit society or other co-operative societies engaged in credit business, by an official not below the rank of Audit Assistant. Such official shall provide to the society, a copy of its report on such inspection.";

(iii) for sub-section (2), the following sub-section shall be substituted, namely:—

"(2) Notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained in any other law for the time being in force and without prejudice to the provisions of sub-section (1), the Registrar may, at any time, cause a scrutiny to be made by an official not below the rank of Junior Auditor/Inspector, on the affairs of any co-operative credit society or other society and its books of accounts. A copy of the report of the scrutiny shall be furnished to the co-operative credit society or other society, if such society makes a request for the same or if any adverse action is contemplated against such society on the basis of the scrutiny.".

21. Substitution of Section 81.— For Section 81 of the principal Act, the following section shall be substituted, namely:—

"81. Filing of returns.— Every co-operative society shall file returns, alongwith the filing fees as prescribed and the following documents, within thirty days from the date of holding of annual general body meeting, in any electronic mode or module provided by the Registrar.

(a) annual report of society's activities;

(b) audited statement of accounts of society;

(c) audit rectification report of society, if any;

(d) plan for surplus disposal as approved by the general body of the co-operative society;

(e) list of amendments to the bye-laws of the co-operative society, if any;

(f) declaration regarding date of holding of it's general body meeting alongwith notice, proceedings and number of members who attended such meetings;

(g) declaration regarding date of conduct of elections, when due;

(h) names and addresses of the directors and their term of office;

(i) Director's Annual Returns showing their personal movable and immovable property, loan transactions and their dealings with the other societies/banks;

(j) any other information required by the Registrar in pursuance of any of the provisions of this Act".

22. Amendment of Section 82.— In Section 82 of the principal Act, in sub-section (6), for the expression "Indian Penal Code, 1860 (45 of 1860)", the expression "Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 (Act 45 of 2023)" shall be substituted.

23. Amendment of Section 102.— In Section 102 of the principal Act,

(i) in clause (i), the following words shall be inserted at the end, namely:— "situated within its area of operation".

(ii) after Clause (n), the following clauses shall be inserted, namely:—

"(na) 'Redevelopment' means reconstruction, renovation, re-building, or development of a building or premises owned, leased or managed by a co-operative housing society, whether by self- development or through a developer, and includes any arrangement for providing alternative accommodation, additional area, or monetary compensation to the members of the society in connection to such redevelopment;

(nb) "SAHARA" means Society's Advisory, Harmony and Redressal Authority appointed under Section 113A of the Act".

24. Substitution of Section 104A and 104B.— For Section 104A and 104B of the principal Act, the following sections shall be substituted, namely.—

"104A. Redevelopment of Co-operative Housing Societies.— (1) Any co-operative housing society shall be entitled to undertake redevelopment, reconstruction of their building or premises by following the rules as may be prescribed.

(2) Any dispute relating to redevelopment, including execution or enforcement of the development agreement, shall be referred to the Civil Court.

104B. Promoter/Office bearers to convey title, etc., and execute documents, according to agreement.— (1) The Chairman or any office bearer of the co-operative housing society which are registered and/or which shall be registered on coming into force of this section shall take all necessary steps to complete transfer of title of land from the land owner or builder or developer, as the case may be, and convey it in the name of the society, within a period of three months from its registration.

(2) It shall be the duty of the Chairman or any office bearer of the society to file with the Registrar a copy of the conveyance immediately after registration of conveyance.

(3) The Registrar, by a notification in the Official Gazette, shall appoint an officer, not below the rank of Senior Auditor/Inspector/Special Recovery Officer/Assistant Co-operative Officer, to be the Designated Officer.

(4) If the Chairman or any office bearer is unable to execute the conveyance in favour of the society, as provided under sub-section (1), any member of such Co-operative housing society, shall make an application latest by the date as shall be notified by the Government, in writing, to the concerned Designated Officer accompanied with the true copies of the registered agreements for sale, executed with the land owner or builder or developer by each individual member of the society, who have purchased the apartment/unit and all other relevant documents including the occupancy certificate, if any, for issuing a report to the Co-operative Officer that such society is entitled to have a unilateral deemed conveyance executed in their favour and to have it registered.

(5) The Designated Officer, appointed under sub-section (3), on receiving such application, within reasonable time and in any case not later than ninety days, shall submit a report to the Co-operative Officer authorised by the Government by notification in the Official Gazette. The Designated Officer after making such enquiry as deemed necessary and after verifying the authenticity of the documents submitted and after giving a reasonable opportunity of being heard to all the parties concerned, on being satisfied that it is a fit case for inferring that the land owner or builder or developer has not facilitated to transfer the title over the land and apartment/unit to the concerned co-operative society without any substantial cause and valid reason and that he is convinced that the title need to be transferred by way of conveyance deed make report thereof to the Co-operative Officer.

(6) Upon receipt of the report, the Co-operative Officer shall issue summons to the landowner or builder or developer, as the case may be, to show cause why a unilateral instrument should not be registered as deemed conveyance and after giving the landowner or builder or developer, as the case may be, a reasonable opportunity of being heard, may, on being satisfied upon summary inquiry that it is a fit case for unilateral conveyance, irrespective of any dispute pending between the landowner and builder/developer, as the case may be, and without disturbing their inter se title or ownership, cause to be registered an instrument as deemed conveyance, after following the procedure as required under the Registration Act, 1908 (16 of 1908).

(7) In all such cases, the Co-operative Officer shall act as authorised officer to perform the role and functions of land owner or builder or developer, as the case may be, to enable registration of sale/conveyance in favour of the Co-operative Housing Society before the Sub-Registrar appointed under the Registration Act, 1908 (16 of 1908).

(8) The fees, duties and any other charges required to be paid for drafting, presenting and registering of sale deed shall be borne by the members of the co-operative housing society.

(9) No court or Tribunal shall hear any complaint or petition against the society and/or Competent Authority and/or Authorised officer with regard to duties performed under this section.

(10) Any person, including the promoter, who willfully obstructs the conveyance process or fails to comply with the decision under this section shall be liable to a penalty of upto Rs. 10,00,000/- for each instance of non-compliance and additional penalty of Rs. 5,000/- per day for continuing default.

(11) In any case, the registration of deemed conveyance shall be completed within a period of one year from application for deemed conveyance.

(12) The provisions of this section shall have effect and operation, notwithstanding anything contained in any law for the time being in force.

25. Amendment of Section 107.— In Section 107 of the principal Act, in sub-section (1), for the words "non occupancy fees", the words "maintenance fees" shall be substituted.

26. Amendment of Section 108.— In Section 108 of the principal Act, Clause (d) shall be omitted.

27. Substitution of Section 113A.— For Section 113A of the principal Act, the following Section shall be substituted, namely,—

"113A SAHARA.— (1) The Registrar shall constitute an authority namely Society's Advisory, Harmony And Redressal Authority (SAHARA) for rendering advise for maintaining harmony in any co- operative housing society and for redressal of grievances of the members of said societies.

(2) The Registrar, with prior approval of the Government, shall appoint an officer not below the rank of Assistant Registrar of Co-operative Societies or an advocate having practice as a lawyer for ten years, or a Chartered Accountant within the meaning of the Chartered Accountants Act, 1949 (Central Act 38 of 1949) and a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India or retired State Government Servant not below the rank of Group B Gazetted officer at the time of retirement, having office within the State of Goa, to decide disputes mentioned in sub-section (2) of Section 83 of the Act and other complaints and grievances in respect of co-operative housing society for such areas as assigned to such officer/person.

(3) All disputes specified under sub-section (2) of Section 83 of the Act shall be referred to the SAHARA.

(4) The provisions of Section 85 and 87 of this Act and Rules 115 to 126A of the Goa Co-operative Societies Rules, 2003 shall apply mutatis mutandis for hearing and deciding the disputes under foregoing sub-section.

(5) A Co-operative housing society or member of such society or any person affected by such society or managing committee shall approach SAHARA for any grievances and no other authority.

(6) Any person aggrieved by the decision or award, as the case may be, of the SAHARA may prefer an appeal to the Co-operative Tribunal within sixty days from the date of such award.

(7) The remuneration of the persons, other than officer of Government, appointed in SAHARA shall be such as may be notified by the Registrar with prior approval of the Government.

28. Amendment of Section 120.— In Section 120 of the principal Act, in sub-section (2), for the expression "Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (Act 2 of 1974), the expression "Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 (Act 46 of 2023) shall be substituted.

29. Amendment of Section 121.— In Section 121 of the principal Act, in sub-section (3), for the expression "Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (Act 2 of 1974), wherever it occurs, the expression "Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 (Act 46 of 2023)" shall be substituted.

30. Amendment of Section 124.— In Section 124 of the principal Act, for the expression "Indian Penal Code, 1860 (46 of 1860), the expression "Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 (Act 45 of 2023)" shall be substituted.

31. Repeal and Savings.— (1) The Goa Co-operative Societies (Amendment) Ordinance, 2026 (Ordinance No. 6 of 2026) is hereby repealed.

(2) Notwithstanding such repeal, anything done or any action taken under the principal Act, as amended by the said Ordinance, shall be deemed to have been done or taken under the principal Act, as amended by this Act.

SANDIP JACQUES Secretary to the Government of Goa, Law Department (Legal Affairs).

Secretariat, Porvorim-Goa. Dated: 28-09-2026.

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