Co-operative societies which may be registered
(1) A co-operative society which consists of individual persons only and which has as its object the promotion of the economic interest of its members in accordance with co-operative principles may be registered under this Act as a primary co-operative society.
(2) A co-operative society which consists of primary co-operative societies only and which has as its object the facilitation of the operations of such co-operative societies may be registered under this Act as a secondary co-operative society.
(3) A co-operative society which consists of secondary cooperative societies only or of secondary and primary co-operative societies and which has as its object the facilitation of the operations of such co-operative societies may be registered under this Act as a tertiary co-operative society.
Conditions for registration
(1) Subject to section 8, no co-operative society shall be registered as a primary co-operative society unless—
(a) it consists of at least fifty individual persons; and
(b) each of such individual persons is qualified for membership under section 26 and is not disqualified for membership under section 27.
(2) No co-operative society shall be registered as a secondary cooperative society unless it consists of at least two primary co-operative societies.
(3) No co-operative society shall be registered as a tertiary cooperative society unless it consists of at least two secondary cooperative societies.
Application for registration
(1) Every application for registration shall be submitted to the Commission in the form prescribed in the regulations and shall be signed—
(a) in the case of a primary co-operative society, by at least ten persons all of whom qualify for membership;
(b) in the case of a secondary co-operative society or a tertiary co-operative society, by a duly authorized person on behalf of each primary co-operative society or secondary cooperative society, as the case may be.
(2) The application for registration shall be accompanied by—
(a) copies of the proposed by-laws, signed by the applicants;
(b) in the case of a primary co-operative society, subject to subsection 8(2), minutes of the inaugural general meeting signed by at least twenty-five persons present; or
(c) in the case of a secondary or tertiary co-operative society, minutes of the inaugural general meeting signed by all duly authorized persons present.
