Working capital

72. No provident society shall be registered unless it has a paid up capital sufficient to provide as working capital a net sum of not less than five thousand rupees exclusive of deposits made under this Act and exclusive in the case of a company of any expenses incurred in connection with the formation of the company.

73. Deposits.—(1) Every provident society shall, if established before the commencement of this Act within one year from such commencement, applies for registration under Section 70, deposit and keep deposited with the Reserve Bank of India in one of the offices in India of the Bank, for and on behalf of the Central Government, cash or approved securities amounting at the market value of the securities on the date of deposit to five thousand rupees, and shall thereafter make each calendar year a further deposit amounting to not less than one fifth of the premium income for the preceding calendar year as shown in the revenue account of the society (including admission fees and other fees received by the society) until the total amount so deposited and kept is fifty thousand rupees.

(2) The provisions of sub sections (8), (9), (9 A), (9 B) and (10) of Section 7 and of sub section (1) of Section 8 and of Section 9 shall apply to the deposits made under this section as they apply to deposits made by an insurer.

Restriction on name of provident society

73A. (1) A provident society shall not be registered by a name identical with that by which an insurer or another provident society in existence is already registered, or so nearly resembling that name as to be calculated to deceive, except when the provident society in existence is in the course of being dissolved and signifies its consent, or the insurer in existence signifies his consent to the Authority.

(2) If a provident society, through inadvertence or otherwise, is without such consent as aforesaid registered by a name identical with that by which an insurer or another provident society already in existence is registered, or so nearly resembling it as to be calculated to deceive, the first mentioned society shall, if called upon to do so by the Authority on the application of the insurer or the second mentioned society, change its name within a time to be fixed by the Authority:

Provided that nothing in this section shall apply to any provident society carrying on business before the commencement of the Insurance (Amendment) Act, 1946 (6 of 1946)

Rules.

74. (1) Every provident society shall, in its rules, set forth-

(a) the name, the object and the location of the registered office of the society
(b) the contingencies or classes of contingency on the happening, of which money is to be paid;
(c) the condition to be complied with before, and the payments to be made on, admission to the society;
(d) the rates of premium or contribution, and the periods for which or the times at which premiums or contributions are payable;
(e) the maximum amount payable to a subscriber or policy holder;
(f) the nature and amounts of the benefits provided for by the society;
(g) the circumstances in which a bonus may be paid to a policy¬holder;
(h) the nature of the evidence required for the proof of the happening of any contingency on which money is to be paid;
(i) the circumstances in which policies may be forfeited or renewed or the whole or a part of the premiums paid on a policy may be returned or a surrender value of a policy may be granted;
(j) the penalties for delay in paying or failure to pay premiums or contributions;
(k) the proportion of the annual income of society which may be disbursed on and the provisions to be made for meeting the expenses of the management of the society;
(l) the person or persons who or the authority which shall have power to invest the funds of the society;
(m) the provisions for appointment of auditors and their remunerations;
(n) the procedure to be adopted in altering the rules of the society;
(o) unless these are provided for in the articles of association of a society which is a company incorporated under the Indian Companies Act, 1913 (7 of 1913), or under the Indian Companies Act, 1882 (6 of 1882) or under the Indian Companies Act, 1866 (10 of 1866), or under any Act repealed thereby:

i. the mode of appointment and removal, the qualification and the powers of a director, manager, secretary or other officer of the society;
ii. the manner of raising additional capital; and
iii. the provisions for the holding of general meetings of the members and policy holders and for the powers to be exercised and the procedure to be followed thereat; and

(p) such other matters as may be prescribed.

(2) Where the rules of any provident society registered under the Provident Insurance Societies Act, 1912 (5 of 1912), fail to comply with the provisions of this section, the society shall, before the expiry of twelve months from the commencement of this Act, amend the rules so as to comply with these provisions.


Amendment of rules

75. (1) No amendment of any rule of a provident society shall be valid until it has been sent to the Authority and has been registered by him.

(2) The Authority on being satisfied that the proposed amendment is not contrary to the provisions of this Act shall, unless he is of opinion that the amendment unfairly affects the rights of existing members or policy holders of the society, issue to the society an acknowledgment of the registration of the amended rule.

Supply of copy of rules

76. Every provident society shall on demand deliver free of cost to any member of the society a copy of the rules of the society and to any person other than a member a copy of such rules on the payment of a sum not exceeding one rupee.

Registered office

77. Every provident society shall have in India a principal office (on the outside of which it shall keep displayed its name in a conspicuous position in legible characters) to which all communications and notices may be addressed, and shall give notice to the Authority of any change in the location thereof within twenty eight days of its occurrence.

Publication of authorised capital to contain also subscribed and paid¬-up capital

78. Where any notice, advertisement or other official publication of a provident society contains a statement of the amount of the authorised capital of the society, the publication shall also contain a statement of the amount of the capital which has been subscribed and the amount paid up.

Registers and books.

79. Every provident society shall keep at its principal office in India

(a) such registers in such form as may be prescribed
(b) a cash book in Which shall be entered separately for each class of contingency separately specified in Section 65 all sums received and expended by the society and matters in respect of which the receipt or expenditure takes place,
(c) a ledger;
(d) a journal.