New MCS Rules Cap How Much Committees Can Spend Without Member Vote

Rule 106C-13(5) of the Maharashtra Co-operative Societies (Amendment) Rules 2026 -- notified on 18 June and effective from 30 June -- sets, for the first time, a fixed rupee ceiling on how much a managing committee can spend on one-time repair and maintenance work without going back to the general body for approval. Until now, spending authority for committees was largely governed by bye-laws and varied widely from society to society.

The new spending tiers

The rule ties the committee's independent spending limit to the society's membership count: Rs 1,00,000 for societies with up to 25 members, Rs 2,00,000 for 26 to 50 members, Rs 3,00,000 for 51 to 100 members, Rs 4,00,000 for 101 to 1,000 members, and Rs 5,00,000 for societies with more than 1,000 members. These limits apply per one-time expenditure within a financial year -- not as an annual aggregate across multiple smaller repairs.

What this means for housing societies

• Any single repair or maintenance job costing more than the applicable tier limit needs general body approval before the committee can authorise payment -- committees cannot split a large job into smaller invoices to stay under the cap.
• Treasurers and secretaries should check the society's current membership count against the tier table before signing off on repair contracts, since the limit changes as membership grows or falls.
• Societies whose bye-laws set a different (higher or lower) committee spending limit should note that the statutory rule now governs, and internal bye-laws inconsistent with it may need to be reconciled at the next bye-law revision.
• The same Chapter XI-B also caps interest on defaulted maintenance charges at 12% simple interest per annum and fixes non-occupancy charges at 10% of service charges, both of which committees should factor into recovery notices.

Managing committees planning repair or maintenance work should confirm which tier applies to their society and, where the estimated cost is likely to exceed it, place the matter before the general body rather than approving it internally -- expenditure sanctioned outside these limits risks being challenged by members or questioned in audit.