Pune: The state cooperation department will launch an online system for housing societies’ registration from this year, reducing the number of mandatory documents from 29 to 19. The move aims to simplify the long-pending paperwork-heavy process, cut down visits to deputy registrars’ offices, curb middlemen’s intervention and speed up approvals across the state. A formal notification detailing the new procedure is expected next week. Officials expect a significant increase in cooperative societies’ registration after the online system goes live in the first week of January.Under the revised norms, housing societies will have to submit only core documents related to land ownership, construction approvals, promoter details and registered agreements. Ten documents, including zoning certificate, title search report, development agreement, business projection plan and multiple affidavits, would be dropped from the documents’ list in the online process.“Society registration was a cumbersome process for years because of excessive documentation and repeated office visits. 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,” commissioner of cooperation Deepak Taware told TOI. Another senior official said the platform on aaple sarkar portal would allow applicants to upload documents, track application status and receive approvals digitally, reducing delays caused by manual scrutiny.The initiative comes amid concerns over delayed registration of housing societies because of paperwork. According to the state cooperation database, only about 1.25 lakh housing societies are registered in the state. In major urban centres such as Mumbai and Pune, federation leaders estimate that lakhs of buildings continue to function without registration with the state cooperation department.Cooperation commissiner Taware said, “Our goal is to bring maximum societies on record. Once registered, societies can better manage finances, carry out repairs, apply for conveyance and access govt services. This reform will strengthen the cooperative housing framework.”Housing society federations welcomed the reform, saying excessive documentation discouraged residents from initiating the registration process. “Many societies were stuck for years because builders did not cooperate or residents could not arrange multiple documents like title search report and zoning certificate. Fewer documents and the online process will empower residents to take charge of the registration themselves,” said a senior office-bearer of a city-level federation.Its another member said, “Middlemen thrived because of the complexity. Online registration with a limited documents list will significantly reduce such exploitation.”The cooperation department officials clarified that while the number documents for online registration had been reduced, essential legal requirements would 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 govt records,” an official said.
