L.R.O. 1/2012
LAWS OF GUYANA
FRIENDLY SOCIETIES ACT
CHAPTER 36:04
Act
1 of 1893
Amended by
28 of 1907 4/1974 11 of 1908 12 of 1948 17 of 1954 37 of 1961
4 of 1972
(inclusive) by L.R.O.
Pages Authorised
Current Authorised Pages
1 – 82 ... 1/2012
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Index
of
Subsidiary Legislation
Page
Friendly Societies Audit Fees Order 81
(O. 12/1957)

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CHAPTER 36:04
FRIENDLY SOCIETIES ACT
ARRANGEMENT OF SECTIONS
SECTION
PRELIMINARY
1. Short title.
2. Interpretation.
PART I CONSTITUTION, REGISTRATION AND INCORPORATION
Classes and Objects of Societies
3. Classes of societies:
(a) friendly societies;
(b) benevolent societies;
(c) working men’s clubs; and
(d) specially authorised societies.
4. Limitation as regards specially authorised societies.
5. No registration of banking society.
Registrar of Friendly Societies
6. Appointment and remuneration.
7. Office.
8. Clerical assistance.
9. General duties.
10. Annual report of the Registrar.
Registration
11. Application for registration.
12. Societies to be registered.
13. Registration of societies.
14. Consideration of rules.
15. (1) Acknowledgment of registration.
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SECTION
(2)(3) Appeal from refusal to register.
(4) Effect of acknowledgment.
(5) Publication of acknowledgment.
16. Disposal of copies of rules transmitted with application.
17. Deposit of acknowledgment.
18. Change of name of society.
Incorporation
19. Incorporation of society.
Branches
20. Societies having branches.
21. Conversion of registered societies into branches.
Rules
22. General provisions.
23. Amendment.
24. Operation.
Amalgamation
25. Amalgamation, conversion and transfer of engagements of
registered societies.
General Provisions
26. General duties and obligations of registered societies.
27. Audit.
28. Establishment of Reserve Fund.
29. Membership of infants.
30. Fee for certificate of birth or death of member of friendly society.
PART II MANAGEMENTAND ADMINISTRATION
31. Officers of registered societies having charge of money.
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SECTION
32. Limitations of office holders.
33. Bankrupt, etc., not to be officer of society.
34. Priority of claim of registered society on death or insolvency of
officer.
35. Fraud or misappropriation with respect to property of registered
society.
CONTRACTS
36. Contracts on behalf of registered society.
PROPERTY AND FUNDS
37. Property and funds of registered societies.
LOANSANDPAYMENTS
38. Loans to members of registered societies.
39. Accumulation at interest of surplus contributions.
40. Limitation of interest of member of registered friendly society.
41. Payments on death of children under 5 or 10 years of age.
42. Power of nomination for sum not exceeding $500.
43. Distribution on intestacy of sum not exceeding $250.
44. Validity of payments made under last two sections.
45. Power of one registered society to contribute to funds of another.
46. Power of registered society to subscribe to certain institutions.
DISPUTES AND LEGAL PROCEEDINGS
47. (1) Mode of deciding disputes.
(2) Reference to registrar of dispute by either party.
48. (1) Power ad litem.Service of process.
INSPECTION OFAFFAIRS, ETC.
49. (1) Direction by Registrar of inspection of affairs of registered
society.
(2) Power of the Registrar to inspect societies’ books, etc.
50. Inspection of societies’ premises.
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SECTION
51. Inquiry.
52. Removal of officer.
53. Passing and registration of special resolutions.
PART III SUSPENSION AND DISSOLUTION
54. Cancellation or suspension of registration of societies.
55. Dissolution of registered societies.
56. Liability of members in winding-up.
PART IV MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS
Offences
57. Making false entry in balance sheet or book of registered society.
58. Officer using improper seal or improperly issuing documents.
59. Penalty for offence where none prescribed.
60. Proceedings before magistrates.
61. False representations as to rules of society.
Regulations, etc.
62. Making of regulations.
63. Use of forms.
64. Use as evidence of official documents.
65. Protection of rights of militiaman, yeoman or volunteer.
66. Procedure and appeal.
67. Audit Fund.
68. Exemption from stamp duties, registration fees and income tax.
69. Application to existing societies.
FIRST SCHEDULE—Table of Fees payable to the Registrar.
SECOND SCHEDULE—Forms.
THIRD SCHEDULE—Matters to be provided for by the Rules of aRegistered
Society.
__________________________
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1929 Ed.
c. 214
1953 Ed.
c. 34 _______________________________________________________
1of 1893 An Act to make provision with respect to the Establishment,
Registration, Incorporation, and Management of
Friendly, and other Societies.
[1st April, 1894]
Short title.
Interpretation.
1.This Act may be cited as the Friendly Societies Act.
2.In this Act—
“amendment of rule” includes a new rule and a resolution
rescinding a rule;
“branch” means any number of the members of a society,
under the control of a central body, having a separate
fund administered by themselves or by a committee of
management of officers appointed by themselves;
“meeting” includes (where the rules of a society so allow) a
meeting of delegates appointed by members;
“officer” means an officer of a society, and extends to any
treasurer, secretary, or member of the committee of
management of a society;
“person claiming through a member” includes the heirs,
executors, administrators, and assigns of a member, and
also his nominees where nomination is allowed;
“property” means movable and immovable property of every
description, including books and papers;
“registered society” means a society registered or deemed to
CHAPTER 36:04
FRIENDLY SOCIETIES ACT

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Classes of
societies.
[12 of 1948
17 of 1954]
Friendly
societies.

be registered under this Act;
“the Registrar” means the Registrar of Friendly Societies
appointed under this Act;
“rules” means rules for the time being in force;
“society” applies to a registered branch, unless the application
is inconsistent with the position and objects of a branch.
PART I CONSTITUTION, REGISTRATION AN INCORPORATION
Classes and Objects of Societies
3.The following societies shall be societies to which
this Act applies:
(a) societies (herein called friendly
societies) established to provide, by
subscription of the members thereof,
with or without the aid of donations,
for—
(i) the relief or maintenance of the
members, their wives,
husbands, children, fathers,
mothers, brothers, sisters,
nephews or nieces, or wards
being orphans, during sickness
or other infirmity, whether
bodily or mental, inold age
(which means any age after
fifty), or in widowhood, or for
the relief or maintenance of the
orphan children of members
during minority;
(ii) insuring money to be paid on
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Benevolent
societies.
Working men’s
clubs.
Specially
authorised
the birth of a member’s child,
or on the death of a member, or
for the funeral expenses of the
wife, husband, or child, of a
member, or of the widow of a
deceased member;
(iii) the relief or maintenance of the
members when on travel in
search of employment, or when
in distressed circumstances, or
in case of shipwreck or loss or
damage of or to boats or nets;
(iv) the endowment of members or
nominees of members at any
age; and
(v) the insurance against fire, to
any amount not exceeding
seventy-five dollars in each
case, of the tools or implements
of the trade or calling of the
members:
Provided that no society which contracts with any person
for the assurance of an annuity exceeding two hundred and
fifty dollars, or of a gross sum exceeding one thousand
dollars, shall be registered under this Act;
(b) societies (herein called benevolent
societies) for any benevolent or
charitable purposes;
(c) societies (herein called working men’s
clubs) for purposes of social
intercourse, mutual helpfulness,
mental and moral improvement, and
rational recreation; and
(d) societies (herein called specially
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societies.

Limitation as
regards
specially
authorised
societies.

No registration
of banking
society.
Appointment
and remuner-
ation.

First Schedule.
Office.
authorised societies) for any purpose
authorised by the Minister as a
purpose to which the powers and
facilities of this Act ought to be
extended.
4. The Minister may limit the application of this Act,
as regards any specially authorised society to those of the
provisions herein contained specified in the authority for
registering that society.
5.No society for carrying on the business of banking
shall be registered under this Act:
Provided that the taking of deposits of not more than two
dollars in any one payment, or more than one hundred
dollars for any one depositor, payable on not less than two
days’ notice, shall not be deemed to be included in the
business of banking within the meaning of this Act, if the
society has not any withdrawable share capital.
Registrar of Friendly Societies
6. (1) There shall be a Registrar of Friendly Societies
who shall be a public officer.
(2) For his services the Registrar shall be entitled to
demand and receive the fees set forth in the First Schedule:
Provided that the Minister may alter or cancel those fees
or any of them, or impose any additional fees under this Act.
7.The Registrar shall keep his office in the City of
Georgetown.
8. The Registrar shall be furnished with clerical
assistance out of any moneys provided by Parliament for that
purpose.
Clerical assistance
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General duties.
[17 of 1954]
9. (1) The Registrar shall keep a register of all societies
registered under this Act, in the form approved by the
Minister, and shall discharge all the duties required of him by
this Act.
(2) The Registrar shall, with the approval of the
Minister—
(a) prepare and cause to be circulated, for
the use of societies, model forms of
accounts, balance sheets, and
valuations;
(b) collect from the returns under this Act
and from other sources, and publish
and circulate, either generally or in
any particular district, or otherwise
make known, any information on the
subject of the statistics of sickness and
mortality, and the application thereof
to the business offriendly societies,
and from time to time publish, either
generally or in particular districts, any
particulars of their returns and
valuations, and any other information
useful to the members of or to persons
interested in friendly or other
societies registered or which might be
registered under this Act, the
Registrar from time to time thinks fit;
and
(c) cause to be compiled and published
tables for the payment of sums of
money on death, in sickness, or in old
age, or on any other contingency
forming the subject of an assurance
authorised under this Act appearing
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Annual report
of the
Registrar.
[37 of 1961]

Application for
registration.
Form 1.
[17 of 1954]

Societies to be
registered.
[17 of 1954
6 of 1977]
to be calculable:
Provided that the adoption of the tables by any society
shall be optional.
10. The Registrar shall, in the month of January in
every year, transmit to the Minister, to be laid before the
National Assembly, a report of his proceedings and of the
principal matters transacted by him, and of the valuations
returned to or caused to be made by him, and generally of the
working of this Act, during the preceding year.
Registration
11. (l) Where any number of persons not less than
seven have established or intend to establish a society to
which this Act applies, they shall make application in writing
to the Registrar for that purpose.
(2) The application shall be signed by at least seven
members, including the secretary.
(3) Two copies of the rules and two lists of the
names of the officers (if any), shall be transmitted to the
Registrar together with the application, and shall be signed by
the persons who are required to sign the application.
12.(1) Every society to which this Act applies shall be
registered under this Act:
Provided that it shall be deemed to be a sufficient
compliance with this section if before any subscriptions or
fees are collected from any member, the registrar, by writing
under his hand permits any person therein, hereinafter
referred to as “a permitted person”, to take the necessary
steps for the formation of a society, and if such society is in
fact registered within six months of such permission being
given as aforesaid.
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(2) In the event of any contravention of this section,
every society, trustee, member of committee or other officer of
an unregistered society shall be liable to a fine of six hundred
and fifty dollars for every day during which such society
remains unregistered.
(3) Every permitted person shall, while such
society is in process of formation cause to be kept proper
books of accounts with respect to all subscriptions or fees
received and all sums of money expended by such person,
and the matter in respect of which the receipts and
expenditure take place, and shall immediately prior to the
registration of the said society, or at the end of the said period
of six months, whichever shall occur sooner, send to the
registrar a true return signed by him, of the receipts and
expenditure, funds and effects collected, received and
expended by him while such society was in process of
formation.
(4) If it is shown that proper books of accounts
were not kept by such permitted person throughout the said
period of six months immediately preceding the registration
of such society, such permitted person shall, unless he shows
that he acted bona fide or that in the circumstances in which
the affairs of the society in formation were carried on the
default was excusable, be liable on summary conviction to a
fine of twenty-six thousand dollars or to imprisonment for six
months.
(5) The registrar shall, on being satisfied that any
member or other person has subscribed to the funds so
collected or received or has an interest therein, permit such
member or other person to inspect without payment of any
fee the said return at the office of the registrar during office
hours.
(6) The registrar may at any time, either before or
after the registration of a society, order the books, accounts,
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Registration of
societies.
[4 of 1972]
vouchers, documents, securities and funds of such society
during the period it was unregistered or in course of
formation, to be inspected or audited by some fit and proper
person appointed by him, and it shall be the duty of the
permitted person and of every secretary, treasurer, trustee
and member of the committee or other officer of the society to
make available to the person so appointed, all the books,
accounts, vouchers, documents, securities and funds for
purpose of inspection, or audit; and the registrar may order
such person to be paid out of the funds of the said
unregistered society or society in formation, or from the
Audit Fund as constituted under this Act, such fee as may be
prescribed.
13. With respect to the registration of societies, the
following provisions shall have effect:
(a) no society shall be registered which
does not consist of seven persons at
least;
(b) no society shall be registered under a
name identical with that under which
any other existing society is
registered, or so nearly resembling
that name as to be likely, or under any
name likely, in the opinion of the
Registrar, to deceive the members or
the public as to its nature or its
identity, and no society shall change
its name without the sanction of the
Registrar as hereinafter provided;
(c) a society, other than a benevolent
society or a working men’s club, shall
not be disentitled to registration by
reason of any rule for, or practice of,
dividing any part of the funds thereof,
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Consideration
of rules.

Acknowledg-
ment of
registration.
Second
Schedule.
Form 2.
Appeal from
refusal to
register.

Effect of
acknowledg-
ment.

Publication of
acknowledg-
ment.
Disposal of
copies of rules
transmitted
if the rules thereof contain distinct
provision for meeting all claims upon
the society existing at the time of
division before the division takes
place.
14. The Registrar shall advise with the secretary or
other officer, if necessary, for the purpose of ascertaining
whether the rules are calculated to carry into effect the
intentions and objects of the persons who have formed or
desire to form the society.
15.(l) The Registrar, when satisfied that a society has
complied with the provisions as to registration in force under
this Act, shall enter the society accordingly in the register,
and give to the society an acknowledgment of registration.
(2) If he refuses to register the society, the persons
who signed the application for registration, or any of them,
may, within fourteen days after the refusal has been notified
to any of them, appeal therefrom to the Minister.
(3) If the refusal to register is overruled on appeal,
an acknowledgment of registration shall thereupon be given
to the society by the Registrar.
(4) The acknowledgment of registration shall be
conclusive evidence for all purposes that the society therein
mentioned is duly registered, unless it is proved that the
registration has been suspended or cancelled under the
provisions hereinafter contained.
(5) Immediately on giving an acknowledgment of
registration to a society, the Registrar shall cause it to be
published in the Gazette and in a newspaper of Guyana.
16. On registering a society, the Registrar shall return
to the society one of the copies of the rules, and one of the lists
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with
application.

Deposit of
acknowledg-
ment.
Change of
name of
society.

Incorporation
of society.
Societies
having
branches.
of the names of the officers, if any, transmitted with the
application for registration, verified by his signature, and
shall keep the other copy and the other list in his office.
17. On being registered a society shall be bound to
deposit the acknowledgment of registration, and the copy of
the rules signed by the Registrar, in the deeds registry within
one month after receiving them.
18. Any registered society may, by special resolution,
with the approval in writing of the Registrar, change its name;
but the change shall not affect any right or liability of the
society or any member thereof, and any pending legal
proceedings may be continued by or against the society
notwithstanding the change.
Incorporation
19. (1) On registration a society shall, ipso facto,
become and be a body corporate by the name described in the
acknowledgment of registration and, subject to the rules of
the society, of purchasing, receiving, possessing, holding,
mortgaging, and otherwise dealing with property.
(2) The name of a registered society shall be
engraved on its common seal.
Branches
20. With respect to societies having branches, the
following provisions shall have effect:
(a) with the application for registration
there shall be transmitted to the
Registrar—
(i) a list of every branch, and of
the place wherein it is
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Form 3.
Form 4.
established;
(ii) if the rules of all the branches
(herein called branch rules) are
or are intended to be identical,
a statement to that effect, and
two copies of those rules; and
(iii) if the branch rules are not or are
not intended to be identical, a
statement to that effect, and
two copies of all branch rules;
(b) a society having a fund under the
control of a central body to which
every branch is bound to contribute
may be registered as a single society;
(c) notice of the establishment of every
new branch by a registered society,
and of the place where it is
established, and a statement whether
or not the rules of that branch are
identical with those of the other
branches of the society, and, if not so,
two copies of the rules of that branch,
shall be transmitted, under the hand
of the secretary, to the Registrar;
(d) until a branch (in the case
hereinbefore mentioned) has been
registered, the society shall not be
entitled to any of the privileges of this
Act in respect of that branch, and
until a copy of any amendment of the
rules of a branch has been registered,
the amendment shall not take effect
respecting that branch;
(e) the provisions of this Act as to
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Conversion of
registered
societies into
branches.
appeals and the result thereof, as to
amendments of rules, as to the
acknowledgment of registration, and
as to the evidence of registration and
of rules, shall apply to branches and
branch rules;
(f) where a society has no fund under the
control of a central body to which
every branch is deemed to be, and
must be registered as, a separate
society, whether its rules are identical
with those of other branches or not;
and
(g) a registered branch shall not be
registered as a society except on
production to the Registrar of a
certificate, under the hand of the chief
secretary or other principal officer of
the society, that the branch has wholly
seceded or has been expelled from the
society:
Provided that the like appeal shall lie from the refusal of
the chief secretary or other principal officer of the society, or
from his omission after one month from the receipt of a
request in writing made on behalf of a branch, to grant the
certificate, as from the refusal of the Registrar to register a
society.
21. With respect to the conversion of registered
societies into branches, the following provisions shall have
effect:
(a) a society may, by a resolution passed
by not less than three-fourths of the
members or delegates present and
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entitled to vote at any general
meeting, of which notice specifying
the intention to propose the resolution
has been duly given according to the
rules of the society, determine to
become a branch under this Act of
any other registered society, and also,
if thought fit, of any registered branch
thereof; and if the rules of that society
do not comply with all the provisions
of this Act and of any regulations
made hereunder in respect of the
registration of branches, the meeting
at which the resolution is passed may
amend those rules so as to bring them
in compliance with this Act and those
regulations;
(b) a copy of the rules of the first-
mentioned society, marked to show
the amendments, if any, made at the
meeting, and two copies of the
resolution aforesaid, and of the
amendments of rules (if any), each
signed by the chairman of the meeting
and by the secretary of the society so
determining to become a branch of
any other society and countersigned
by the secretary of the other society,
shall be transmitted to the Registrar,
and if the Registrar finds that those
rules, with or without the amendment
aforesaid, comply with the provisions
of this Act and of the regulations, he
shall cancel the registration of the
first- mentioned society and register it
as a branch of the other society, and
also, if so specified in the resolution
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General
provisions.
[17 of 1954
4 of 1972]
Third
Schedule.

Amendment.
before- mentioned, of any branch of
the other society, without further
request or notice, and shall register
the amendment of rules without
further application or evidence, and
until the registration the resolution
aforesaid shall not take effect;
(c) no advertisement of any cancellation
of registration under this section shall
be requisite; and
(d) the rules of a society which becomes a
branch under this section shall, so far
as they are not contrary to any
express provision of this Act or of the
regulations aforesaid, and subject to
any amendment thereof as
hereinbefore provided, continue in
force as the rules of that branch until
amended.
Rules
22. (1) The rules of every society for registration shall,
according to the class in which the society is to be registered,
contain provisions in respect of the several matters mentioned
in the Third Schedule.
(2) A copy of the rules of a registered society shall
be delivered by the society to any person on demand, on
payment of a sum not exceeding sixty-five dollars.
23. (1) After the rules of a society have been
registered, the society may, by resolution at a meeting
specially called for that purpose, alter, amend, or revoke
them, or any of them, or make new rules:

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Form 5.

Operation.
Provided that the alteration, amendment, revocation, or
new rule, shall not take effect until it has been registered.
(2) Two copies of the proposed alterations or
amendments, or of the new rules, as the case may be, signed
by three members of the society and by the secretary or other
officer, shall be transmitted to the Registrar, and to one of
those copies there shall be attached a declaration by the
secretary or one of the officers of the society that in making
the alteration or amendment the rules of the society
respecting the making, altering, amending, and revoking of
rules have been duly observed.
(3) If the Registrar is satisfied that the alterations,
amendments, or new rules, are not contrary to this Act and
have been made in accordance with the rules, he shall give to
the society an acknowledgment of registration thereof; and
shall return one of the copies to the society, verified by his
signature, and shall keep the other, with the declaration
annexed, with the rules of the society in his custody.
(4) The provisions hereinbefore contained relating
to appeals from a refusal to register a society shall apply to a
refusal to register amendments of rules.
24. (1) The rules, when registered, shall bind the
society and the members thereof and all persons claiming
through them respectively, to the same extent as if each
member had subscribed his name and affixed his seal thereto,
and there were in the rules contained a covenant on the part
of himself, his heirs, executors, and administrators, to
conform therewith subject to this Act.
(2) All moneys payable by a member to the society
shall be deemed to be a debt due from him to the society, and
shall be so recoverable in the magistrate’s court or the High
Court, as the case may be.

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Amalgam-
ation,
conversion and
transfer of
engagements of
registered
societies.

c. 89:01
Amalgamation
25. (1) Any two or more registered societies may, by
special resolution of both or all of them, become amalgamated
together as one society, with or without any dissolution or
division of their funds or the funds of either or any of them;
and any registered society may, by special resolution, transfer
its engagements to any other registered society undertaking
to fulfil the engagements of that society.
(2) A registered society may determine by special
resolution to convert itself into a company, or to amalgamate
with, or transfer its engagements to, a company, under the
Companies Act.
(3) No amalgamation or transfer of engagements
shall prejudice any right of a creditor of either or any
registered society which is party thereto.
(4) If a special resolution for converting a
registered society into a company contains the particulars by
the Companies Act aforesaid required to be contained in the
memorandum of association of a company, and a copy
thereof has been registered by the Registrar, a copy of the
resolution certified by the Registrar shall have the same effect
as a memorandum of association duly signed and attested
under that Act.
(5) If a registered society is registered as, or
amalgamates with, or transfers all its engagements to, a
company, the registration of the society under this Act shall
thereupon be void and shall be cancelled by the Registrar; but
the registration of a society as a company shall not affect any
right or claim for the time being subsisting against that
society, or any penalty for the time being incurred by it; and,
for the purpose of enforcing that right, claim, or penalty, the
society may be sued and proceeded against in the same
manner as if it had not become registered as a company; and
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the right or claim, or the liability to the penalty, shall have
priority, as against the property of the company, over all
other rights or claims against or liabilities of the company:
Provided, respecting friendly societies, that—
(a) no special resolution by a society for
any amalgamation or transfer of
engagements under this section shall
be valid unless five-sixths in value (to
be calculated as for dissolution) of the
members assent thereto, either at the
meetings at which the resolution is
passed and confirmed, or one of them,
or in writing, if those members were
not present thereat, or without the
consent in writing of everyone for the
time being receiving or entitled to any
relief, annuity, or other benefit from
the funds of the society, unless his
claim is first duly satisfied, or
adequate provision is made for
satisfying it;
(b) the provisions hereinafter contained
in case of dissolution as to the
punishment of officers, and the
remedy of members or persons
dissatisfied with the provision made
for satisfying their claims, shall apply
to the case of amalgamation and
transfer of engagements; and
(c) on the application of the committee of
management of a society desiring to
amalgamate or transfer its
engagements notice of the application
being published in the Gazette, the
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General duties
and obliga-
tions of
registered
societies.
[17 of 1954]
Registrar, after hearing the committee
of management and any other persons
whom he considers entitled to be
heard on the application, may, with
the consent of the Minister, order that
any of the consents and conditions
prescribed in or under this Act, or in
any regulations made thereunder, be
dispensed with, and may confirm the
amalgamation or transfer.
(6) This section shall not apply to branches.
General Provisions
26. With respect to the duties and obligations of
registered societies, the following provisions shall have effect:
(a) every society shall—
(i) have an office (hereinafter
referred to as “the registered
office”) to which all
communications and notices
may be addressed, and notice
of the situation of the office,
and of every change therein,
shall be sent to the Registrar
and be published in the Gazette;
(ii) paint or affix, and keep painted
or affixed, its name on the
outside of every office or place
in which the business of the
society is carried on, in a
conspicuous position, in letters
easily legible, and have its
name mentioned in legible
characters in all notices,
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advertisements, and other
official publications of the
society, and in all bills of
exchange, promissory notes,
endorsements, cheques, and
orders for money or goods
purporting to be signed by or
on behalf of the society, and in
all bills of parcels, invoices,
receipts, and letters of credit of
the society;
(iii) cause its accounts to be
regularly entered in the
prescribed books, separate
accounts being kept of all
moneys received or paid on
account of every particular
fund or benefit assured by the
society for which a separate
table of contributions is
adopted, distinct from all
moneys received and paid on
account of any other benefit or
fund;
(iv) keep a separate account of the
expenses of management of the
society and of all contributions
on account thereof;
(v) once at least in every year,
submit its accounts to the
registrar for audit as hereinafter
provided;
(vi) once in every year, before the
first day of May, submit to the
registrar or other person
appointed to audit a general
statement (to be called “the
annual return”) of the receipts
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and expenditure, funds and
effects, of the society, and the
statement shall show separately
the expenditure in respect of
the several objects of the
society, and shall be made out
to the thirty-first day of
December then last inclusively;
(vii) within six months after the 31st
December, 1892, and so again
within six months after the
expiration of every five years
succeeding, send to the
Registrar a return (to be called
“the quinquennial return”) of
the sickness and mortality
experienced by the society
during the five years ending
with the 31st December last
past; and an abstract of the
returns shall be transmitted by
the Registrar to the Minister, to
be laid before the National
Assembly;
(viii) once at least in every five years,
either cause its assets and
liabilities to be valued, by one
of the public valuers appointed
as hereinafter mentioned, or by
a valuer to be appointed by the
society, and send to the
Registrar a report, signed by
the valuer, and stating his
address and calling or
profession, on the condition of
the society, and an abstract to
be made by him of the results
of his valuation, together with a
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return containing information
with respect to the benefits
assured and the contributions
receivable by the society, and to
its funds and effects, debts and
credits, which the Registrar
from time to time requires, or
send to the Registrar a return of
the benefits assured and
contributions receivable from
all the members of the society,
and of all its funds and effects,
debts and credits, accompanied
by any evidence in support
thereof prescribed by the
Registrar, in which case the
Registrar shall cause the assets
and liabilities of the society to
be valued and reported on by
some actuary, and shall send to
the society a copy of his report
and an abstract of the results of
his valuation;
(ix) allow any member or person
having an interest in the funds
of the society to inspect its
books at all reasonable hours at
its registered office or any place
where they are kept, except that
that member or person, unless
he is an officer of the society or
is specially authorised by a
resolution of the society to do
so, shall not have the right to
inspect the loan account of any
other member without the
other member’s written
consent;
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(x) supply gratuitously every
member or person interested in
the funds of the society, on his
application, with a copy of the
last annual return of the society
for the time being:
Provided that it shall be deemed a sufficient compliance
with this requirement if the society supplies gratuitously
every member or person interested with a balance sheet or
other document, duly audited, containing the same
particulars as to its receipts and expenditure, funds and
effects, as are contained in the annual return; and
(xi) keep a copy of the last annual
balance sheet for the time
being, and of the last
quinquennial valuation for the
time being, together with the
report of the auditor or
auditors, if any, always hung
up or deposited in a
conspicuous place at the
registered office.
Paragraph (a) shall apply to a registered branch of a
society as if it were a registered society, except that every
notice, copy of a resolution, and annual return thereby
required to be sent to the Registrar shall be sent through an
officer appointed in that behalf by the society of which the
branch forms part;
(b) no society shall pay any sum of
money upon the death of a member or
other person whose death is or ought
to be entered in any register of deaths,
except upon the production of a
certificate of the death under the hand
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of the person having the care of the
register of deaths in which the death
is or ought to be entered:
Provided that this paragraph shall not apply to deaths at
sea;
(c) it shall be an offence under this Act if
any registered society, or any officer
or member thereof—
(i) fails to give notice, send or
transmit any return or
document, or do or allow to be
done any act or thing which the
society, officer, or person, is by
this Act, or by any regulation
made thereunder, required to
give, send, transmit, do, or
allow to be done; or
(ii) wilfully refuses or neglects to
do any act or to furnish any
information required for the
purposes of this Act by the
Registrar or other person
authorised under this Act, or
does any act or thing forbidden
by this Act or by any regulation
made thereunder; or
(iii) makes any return or wilfully
furnishes information in any
respect false or insufficient;
(d) every offence by a society under this
Act shall be deemed to have been also
committed by every officer thereof
bound by its rules to fulfil any duty
whereof the offence is a breach, or, if
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there is not that officer, then by every
member of the committee of
management of the society, unless the
member is proved to have been
ignorant of or to have attempted to
prevent the commission of the
offence; and every act or default
under this Act constituting an offence
shall, if continued, constitute a new
offence in every week during which it
continues;
(e) every annual or other return, abstract
of valuation, and other document
required for the purposes of this Act
shall be made in the form and contain
the particulars prescribed by the
Registrar; and
(f) all documents by this section required
to be sent to the Registrar shall be
deposited with the rules of the
societies to which they respectively
relate, and shall be registered or
recorded by the Registrar, with any
observations thereon he thinks
proper:
Provided that the Registrar may, with the approval of the
Minister, dispense with the quinquennial return and with the
valuation herein required in respect of societies to whose
purposes or to the nature of whose operations he deems them
inapplicable; and may also dispense with the quinquennial
return in cases where, at the request of a society, by
inspection of the books thereof by himself or by any person
appointed by him for that purpose, he obtains information he
deems sufficient of the sickness and mortality experienced by
the society; and the provisions herein contained with respect
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Audit.
[17 of 1954]

to the quinquennial return and valuation shall not apply to
benevolent societies or working men’s clubs, or to specially
authorised societies, unless it is so directed in the authority
for registering them.
27. (1) The Registrar shall audit or cause to be audited
by some person authorised by him by general or special order
in writing the accounts of every society once at least in every
year.
(2) The audit under subsection (1) shall include an
examination of the annual return mentioned in this Act, a
verification of the annual return with the accounts and
vouchers relating thereto, and a valuation of the assets and
liabilities of the society.
(3) The Registrar and every other person
appointed to audit the accounts of a society shall have access
to all the books and accounts of the society and shall have
power when necessary—
(a) to summon at the time of his audit,
any officer, agent, servant or member
of the society who he has reason to
believe can give material information
in regard to any transactions of the
society or the management of its
affairs;
(b) to require the production of any book
or document relating to the affairs of
or any cash or securities belonging to
the society by the officer, agent,
servant or member in possession of
such book, document, cash or
securities.

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Establishment
of Reserve
Fund.
[17 or 1954
37 of 1961]
28. (l) (a) For the purpose of this section every
society which declares a bonus in any
year shall establish and maintain a
Reserve Fund.
(b) Where a society declares in any year
the payment of a bonus in respect of
the twelve months preceding such
declaration of bonus, it shall before
such declaration set aside out of the
excess of revenue over expenditure
for that period such sum or
proportion thereof as the society may
deem expedient, being a sum not less
than five per cent of such excess, and
shall forthwith credit the same to the
Reserve Fund.
(c) The Reserve Fund shall, with the
consent of the Registrar, be utilised in
expenditure of any extraordinary
nature which may be necessary or
desirable in carrying out the objects of
the society. The Reserve Fund shall
not be utilised however in paying a
bonus or making any payment
whatsoever in the nature of a bonus.
(d) All moneys accruing to the Reserve
Fund shall from time to time be
invested by the society in the manner
provided by section 37 of this Act. For
the purposes of investment under this
section, an investment shall not
include the lending out of moneys to
members under this Act.
(e) A society may, with the express
LAWS OF GUYANA
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L.R.O. 1/2012
permission in writing of the Registrar,
at the end of every five years
calculated from the date on which this
section shall come into effect, or from
the date of its registration, whichever
is the later, apply any part of such
Reserve Fund, not exceeding fifty per
cent of the amount at which such
Reserve Fund shall then stand, for any
of the objects or purposes defined or
established under the rules of the
society save that no portion thereof
shall be applied in paying a bonus or
in making any payment whatsoever
in the nature of a bonus.
(2) (a) Where the business of a society
includes the providing for an
endowment of a member or the
nominee of a member at any age or
the assuring of a certain annuity, such
society shall, in general meeting, set
aside in each year out of its net profits
as shown by the annual return of the
society to the preceding 31st
December such sum or proportion
thereof as the society may deem
expedient not being less than thirty-
three and one-third per cent of its net
profits as aforesaid yearly for a period
of not less than three years
consecutively immediately following
the registration of such society and
thereafter such sum or proportion
thereof not being less than twenty per
cent of its net profits as aforesaid
yearly to be accumulated as a Reserve
Fund.
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Membership of
infants.
[O. 4/1974]
(b) The moneys comprised in such
Reserve Fund shall be deposited and
kept deposited in an account in a
bank approved by the Registrar in the
name or names of the trustee or
trustees of the society and shall be
specially appropriated to meeting the
liabilities of the society in respect of
claims and demands arising under or
in connection with the aforesaid
business of the society:
Provided that such Reserve Fund or part thereof may be
invested by the trustee or trustees, as the case may be, in the
securities or investments authorised under this Act and the
interest accruing on all such securities or investments shall be
paid directly to such Reserve Fund and shall not be applied
for any purpose other than those to which the said Reserve
Fund is applicable.
(c) Every society transacting such
business as aforesaid shall whenever
it is intended to make a distribution
by way of bonus cause an
investigation to be made into its
financial condition including a
valuation of its liabilities by an
auditor approved by the Registrar
and shall before making any such
distribution file with the Registrar a
report of such auditor approving or
sanctioning such distribution as
aforesaid.
29. A person under the age of eighteen years but
above the age of sixteen years may be a member of a
registered society, unless provision is made in the rules
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Fee for
certificate of
birth or death
of member of
friendly
society. [6 of 1997]

Officers of
registered
societies having
charge of
money.
thereof to the contrary, and may, subject to the rules of the
society, enjoy all the rights of a member (except as herein
provided), and execute all instruments, and give all
acquittances necessary to be executed or given under the
rules, but shall not be a member of the committee of
management, manager, or treasurer of the society:
Provided that—
(a) societies and branches, consisting
wholly of members of any age under
twenty-one years, but exceeding three
years, may be allowed to register
under this Act, subject to regulations
made in that behalf; and
(b) no rule or practice in force at the
commencement of this Act for the
admission of members under sixteen
years of age shall be deemed contrary
to any express provision of this Act
touching any society already
incorporated.
30. For the purposes of this Act, a certificate of the
birth or death of any member of, or person insured or to be
insured with, a registered society shall be given under his
hand by the person having the care of the register of births or
deaths in which the birth or death is entered, for a sum not
exceeding sixty-five dollars.
PART II MANAGEMENT ANDADMINISTRATION
31. With respect to officers of registered societies
having receipt or charge of money, the following provisions
shall have effect:

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Form 6.
(a) every officer, if the rules of the society
so require, shall, before taking upon
himself the execution of his office,
give the security required by the
committee of management of the
society, in an obligation by himself
and one or more sureties, or give the
security of a guarantee society, in the
sum directed by the committee of
management, for his rendering a just
and true account of all moneys
received and paid by him on account
of the society at the times appointed
by its rules, or when the committee of
management thereof requires him to
do so, and for the payment by him of
all sums due from him to the society;
(b) no one who enters into the obligation
as surety, and no guarantee society
which gives the security, shall be
entitled to the benefit of any exception
or shall be permitted in any action or
proceeding thereon to rely on any
exception or matter of defence, except
that the principal has performed his
obligation; and
(c) every officer, or his executors or
administrators shall, at the times
when, by the rules of the society, he
should render account, or upon
demand made or notice in writing
given or left at his last or usual place
of residence, give in his account as
required by the society or by the
committee of management thereof, to
be examined and allowed or
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Limitations of
office holders.
[17 of 1954
6 of 1997]
disallowed by them, and shall, on the
like demand or notice, pay over all
moneys and deliver all property for
the time being in his custody or
possession to the person appointed
bythe society or the committee of
management; and, in case of any
refusal or neglect to deliver the
account, or to pay over the moneys, or
to deliver the property in manner
aforesaid, the society may sue upon
the obligation or security before-
mentioned or may apply to a
magistrate, whose order shall be final
and conclusive.
32. (1) No person shall, without the permission in
writing of the Registrar, hold both the offices of president and
treasurer of the same society:
Provided that such permission shall only be granted with
the approval of the Minister.
(2) No person shall hold both the offices of
secretary and treasurer of the same society.
(3) No person shall hold the office of treasurer in
more than one society.
(4) No person holding any other office therein,
shall be or act as the medical officer, dentist, optician or
druggist of any society.
(5) No person shall hold the offices of secretary
and trustee or treasurer and trustee of the same society
thereof.
(6) Any person contravening any of the provisions
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Bankrupt, etc.,
not to be officer
of society.
[17 of 1954]
c. 12:21

Priority of
claim of
registered
society on
death or
insolvency of
officer.

of this section shall be liable to a fine of sixteen thousand two
hundred and fifty dollars.
33. (1) No person who is an undischarged bankrupt or
has compounded with his creditors or has made an
arrangement or composition with his creditors under the
Insolvency Act or any other Act, shall be appointed, or if
appointed shall act as the president, vice-president, secretary,
assistant secretary, treasurer or trustee of a society.
(2) Any person acting in contravention of
subsection (1) shall be liable to a fine of nine thousand seven
hundred and fifty dollars.
(3) A person shall be disqualified for being elected,
and for being an officer of any registered society if, within the
previous ten years he has been convicted of any offence
involving dishonesty. If any person who, under this
subsection is disqualified for being elected and for being an
officer of any registered society, or if elected to be an officer of
any registered society, has become disqualified to hold such
office, acts as an officer of a society, he shall be liable on
summary conviction to a fine of twenty-six thousand dollars
or to imprisonment for six months.
34. On the death or insolvency of any officer of a
registered society having in his custody or possession, by
virtue of his office, any money or property belonging to the
society, or if any execution, attachment, or other process is
issued against that officer or against his property, his heirs,
executors, or administrators, or assignee in insolvency, or the
marshal or other person executing the process, shall, upon
demand in writing of any person authorised by the society, or
by the committee of management thereof, to make the
demand, pay the money and deliver over the property to the
committee of management of the society in preference to any
other debts or claims against the estate of the officer.

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Fraud or
misappropria-
tion with
respect to
property of
registered
society.
[6 of 1997]

Contracts on
behalf of
registered
society.
representation or imposition, of any property of a registered
society, or, having the property in his possession, withholds
or misapplies it, or wilfully applies any part of it to purposes
other than those expressed or directed in the rules of the
society and authorised by this Act, shall, on the complaint of
the society or of any member authorised by the society or by
the committee of management thereof, or, in the case of a
branch, on the complaint of the central body of the society of
which the branch forms part, or of any member of the society
or branch authorised by the central body, or, in any case, on
the complaint of any member of the society or branch
authorised by the Registrar, or of the Registrar, be liable to a
fine of nineteen thousand five hundred dollars, and to be
ordered to deliver up the property and to repay all moneys
applied improperly, and, in default of delivery or repayment
or of the payment of the penalty and costs aforesaid, to be
imprisoned for three months; but nothing herein contained
shall prevent the person from being prosecuted by way of
indictment or otherwise, if not previously convicted of the
same offence under this Act.
CONTRACTS
36. (1) Contracts on behalf of a registered society may
be made, varied, or discharged as follows:
(a) any transport, mortgage, or contract
which, if made between private
persons, would be by law required to
be in writing, and any document
required to be executed by the society,
may be passed, received, or executed,
on behalf of the society in writing,
either under the common seal of the
society, or under the signature of two
members of the committee of
management and the secretary, and
35. Anyone who obtains possession, by false
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may in the same manner be varied or
discharged;
(b) any contract which, if made between
private persons, would be by law
required to be in writing and signed
by the person to be charged
therewith, may be made on behalf of
the society in writing by any person
acting under the express or implied
authority of the society, and may in
the same manner be varied or
discharged;
(c) any contract which, if made between
private persons, would be by law
valid though made by parol only and
not reduced into writing, may be
made by parol on behalf of the society
by any person acting under the
express or implied authority of the
society, and may in the same manner
be varied or discharged; and
(d) a signature purporting to be made by
a person holding any office in the
society attached to a writing whereby
any contract purports to be made,
varied, or discharged, by or on behalf
of the society, shall prima facie be
taken to be the signature of a person
who, at the time when the signature
was made, holds the office so stated.
(2) All contracts made, varied, or discharged
according to the provisions herein contained shall, so far as
concerns the form thereof, be effectual in law and binding on
the society and all other parties thereto, their heirs, executors,
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Property and
funds of
registered
societies.


or administrators, as the case may be.
PROPERTY AND FUNDS
37. With respect to the property and funds of
registered societies, the following provisions shall have effect:
(a) the committee of management of the
society, or a majority of the members
thereof present and entitled to vote in
general meeting, may from time to
time invest the funds of the society, or
any part thereof, to any amount in
any of the following ways:
(i) in any government or post
office savings bank in Guyana;
(ii) in any government funds of a
Commonwealth territory;
(iii) in the purchase of land, and in
the erection or alteration of
offices or other buildings
thereon; and
(iv) upon any other security
expressly directed by the rules
of the society, not being
personal security, except as
hereinafter authorised with
respect to loans;
(b) a society, or any branch of a society,
may (if the rules thereof so provide)
hold, purchase, or take on lease any
land, and may sell, exchange,
mortgage, lease, or build upon the
same (with power to alter and pull
down buildings and again rebuild)
and no purchaser, assignee,
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Loans to
members of
registered
societies.
[37 of 1961]
mortgagee, or tenant shall be bound
to inquire as to the authority for any
sale, exchange, mortgage, or lease by
the committee of management, and
the receipt of the members of the
committee of management, or of a
majority thereof, shall be a discharge
for all moneys arising from or in
connection with the sale, exchange,
mortgage, or lease;
(c) for the purposes of this section, no branch of
a registered society need be separately
registered.
LOANS AND PAYMENTS
38. A registered society may, out of any separate loan
fund to be formed by contributions or deposits of its
members, make loans to its members on their personal
security, with or without sureties, as provided by the rules,
subject to the following restrictions:
(i) no loan can at any time be made out
of moneys contributed for the other
purposes of the society;
(ii) no member shall be capable of
holding any interest in the loan fund
exceeding one thousand dollars;
(iii) no society shall make any loan to a
member on personal security beyond
the amount fixed by the rules, or
make any loan which, together with
any moneys for the time being owing
by a member to the society, exceeds
two hundred and fifty dollars; and
(iv) no society shall hold at any one time
on deposit from its members any
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Accumulation
at interest of
surplus
contributions.

Limitation of
interest of
member of
registered
friendly
society.

Payments on
death of
children
under5 or 10
years of age.
[37 of 1961]

moneys beyond the amount fixed by
the rules, which shall not exceed two-
thirds of the total sums for the time
being owing to the society by the
members who have borrowed from
the loan fund.
39. The rules of a society may provide for
accumulating at interest, for the use of any member thereof,
any surplus of his contributions to the funds of the society
remaining after providing for any assurance in respect of
which they are paid, and for the withdrawal of the
accumulations from time to time.
40. (1) No member of a registered friendly society, nor
any person claiming through a member, shall be entitled to
receive more than two hundred and fifty dollars a year by
way of annuity, or one thousand dollars by way of gross sum,
together with any bonuses or additions declared upon
assurances not exceeding that amount, from any one or more
societies.
(2) The society may require a member, or person
claiming through a member, to make and sign a declaration
that the total amount to which he is entitled from one or more
of those societies does not exceed the sums aforesaid; and
anyone who knowingly makes a false or fraudulent
declaration in the matter shall be guilty of a misdemeanour.
41. With respect to payments on the death of children
under five or ten years of age, the following provisions shall
have effect:
(a) no society shall insure or pay on the
death of a child under five years of
age any sum of money which, added
to any amount payable on the death
of the child by any other society,
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exceeds sixty dollars, or on the death
of a child under ten years of age any
sum on money which, added to any
amount payable on the death of the
child by any other society, exceeds
eighty dollars;
(b) no society shall pay any sum on the
death of a child under ten years of age
except to the parent of the child or to
the personal representative of the
parent, and upon the production by
the parent or his personal
representative of a certificate of death
issued by the persons having the
lawful care of the register of deaths in
which the death is or should be
entered; containing the particulars
hereinafter mentioned;
(c) whenever application is made for a
certificate of the death of a child for
the purpose of obtaining a sum of
money from a society, the name of the
society and the sum sought to be
obtained therefrom shall be stated to
the person aforesaid, who shall write
on or at the foot of the certificate the
words“ to be produced to the society”
(naming the society) “said to be liable
charged by the person aforesaid for
each certificate shall not exceed sixty-
five dollars;
for payment of the sum of ”
(stating the sum), and all certificates
of the same death shall be numbered
in consecutive order and the sum
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(d) no person aforesaid shall give any one
or more certificates of death for the
payment in the whole of any sum of
money exceeding twenty dollars on
the death of a child under five years,
or for the payment in the whole of
any sum of money exceeding thirty
dollars on the death of a child under
ten years; and the certificate shall not
be granted unless the cause of death
has been previously entered in the
register of deaths on the certificate of
a coroner or of a registered medical
practitioner who attended the
deceased child during its last illness,
or except upon the production of a
certificate of the probable cause of
death under the hand of a registered
medical practitioner, or of other
satisfactory evidence thereof;
(e) any society to which is produced a
certificate of the death of a child
which does not purport to be the first
shall, before paying any money
thereon, be bound to inquire whether
any (and, if any, what) sums of money
have been paid on the death of the
child by any other society;
(f) it shall be an offence under this Act—
(i) if any society pays money on
the death of a child under ten
years of age otherwise than is
hereby provided; and
(ii) if any parent, or any personal
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Power of
nomination for
sum not
exceeding
$500.
[37 of 1961]
representative of a parent, claiming
money on the death of a child,
produces any certificate of the death
other than is herein provided to the
society or societies from which the
money is claimed, or produces a false
certificate or one fraudulently
obtained, or in any way attempts to
defeat the provisions of this Act with
respect to payments upon the death of
children; and
(g) nothing in this section shall apply to
insurances on the lives of children of
any age, where the person insuring
has an interest in the life of the person
insured.
42. (1) A member of a registered society (other than a
benevolent society or a working men’s club), not being under
the age of sixteen years, may, by writing under his or her
hand delivered at or sent to the registered office of the society,
nominate anyone, not being an officer or servant of the
society, unless that officer or servant is the wife, husband,
father, mother, child, brother, sister, nephew, or niece of the
nominator, to whom any moneys payable by the society on
the death of the member (which shall include deposits made
by the member under section 38, and moneys accumulated
for the use of the member under section 39, with the interest
on those deposits or moneys respectively), not exceeding five
hundred dollars, shall be paid at his or her decease, and may
from time to time revoke or vary the nomination by a writing
under his or her hand similarly delivered or sent; and, on
receiving satisfactory proof of the death of a nominator, the
society shall pay to the nominee the amount due to the
deceased member, not exceeding the sum aforesaid.
(2) A nomination may be partly printed, and, if
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Distribution on
intestacy of
sum not
exceeding$250.
Validity of
payments made
under last two
sections.

Power of one
registered
society to
contribute to
funds of
another.

Power of
registered
society to
subscribe to
certain
institutions.
Mode of
deciding
disputes.
[17 of 1954
37 of 1961]
made in a book kept at the registered office of the society,
shall be taken to be delivered at that office.
43. If any member of a registered society who is
entitled from the funds thereof to a sum not exceeding two
hundred and fifty dollars dies intestate and without having
made any nomination under this Act remaining unrevoked at
his death, that sum shall be payable, without administration,
to the person who appears to the society, upon evidence it
deems satisfactory, to be entitled by law to receive it.
44. Whenever the society, after the decease of any
member, pays any sum of money to the person who at the
time appears to the society to be entitled under either of the
last two preceding sections, the payment shall be valid and
effectual against any demand made upon the society by
anyone else.
45. Nothing in this Act shall prevent any registered
society or branch from contributing to the funds or taking
part, by delegates or otherwise, in the government of any
other registered society or branch, as provided in the rules of
the first named society or branch, without becoming a branch
under this Act of the society or branch.
46. A registered society may subscribe, out of its own
funds, to any hospital, infirmary, or charitable or provident
institution, any annual or other sum necessary to secure to
members of the society and their families the benefits of the
hospital, infirmary, or institution, according to its rules.
DISPUTES AND LEGAL PROCEEDINGS
47. (1) Every dispute between a member, or a person
claiming through a member or under the rules, of a registered
society and the society or any officer thereof, or between any
registered branch under this Act, or an officer thereof, of any
registered society or registered branch, and the registered
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Reference to
Registrar of
dispute by
either party.
society or branch of which the other party to the dispute is a
registered branch or an officer thereof, or between any two or
more registered branches of any registered society or branch
or any officers thereof, respectively, shall be decided in
manner directed by the rules of the society, and the decision
so made shall be binding and conclusive on all parties
without appeal, and shall not be removable into any court of
justice or restrainable by injunction; and application for the
enforcement thereof may be made to the magistrate’s court.
(2) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsections
(1) and (4), any party to a dispute in a registered society may
apply to the Registrar to hear and determine the same and the
Registrar may, if he thinks fit, and after proper notice given to
the other parties to the dispute, hear and determine such
dispute and order the costs thereof to be paid either out of the
funds of the society or by any or all of the parties to the
dispute:
Provided that the Registrar may, before proceeding to
hear and determine a dispute, make or cause a preliminary
investigation to be made into the dispute with the object of
ascertaining the facts and limiting the issues and of
endeavouring to bring about a voluntary settlement between
the parties to the dispute.
(3) The Registrar may administer oaths, and may
require the attendance of all parties concerned and of
witnesses, and the production of all books and documents
relating to the matter in question; and any person refusing to
attend, or to produce any document, or to give evidence
before the Registrar shall be guilty of an offence.
(4) Where the rules of a society direct that disputes
shall be referred to a magistrate, the dispute shall be
determined by a magistrate’s court, either with or without the
right of appeal to the High Court, as provided by the rules.

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Service of
process.
(5) Where the rules contain no direction as to
disputes, or where no decision is made on a dispute within
forty days after the application to the society for a reference
under its rules, the member or person aggrieved may apply to
a magistrate’s court, which may hear and determine the
matter in dispute.
(6) The Registrar or the magistrate, as the case may
be, may, at the request of either party, state a case for the
opinion of the High Court on any question of law.
(7) Subject to subsection (4), any decision given
under this section shall be binding and conclusive on all
parties without appeal.
(8) In this section the expression “dispute”
includes any dispute arising on the question whether a
member or person aggrieved is entitled to be or to continue to
be a member or to be reinstated as a member, but save as
aforesaid, in the case of a person who has ceased to be a
member, does not include any dispute other than a dispute
between him and the registered society or an officer thereof
which arose whilst he was a member or arises out of his
previous relation as a member to that society.
(9) This section shall apply to unregistered
societies and societies in process of formation as it applies to
societies as defined in section two of this Act.
48. (1) In any legal proceeding by a registered society,
the power ad litem may be signed by any two members of the
committee of management.
(2) In any legal proceeding against a registered
society, service of process on the secretary or on any member
of the committee of management shall be deemed sufficient
service.
Power ad litem.
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Direction by
Registrar of
inspection of
affairs of
registered
society.
[17 of 1954
6 of 1997]
INSPECTION OF AFFAIRS, ETC.
49. (1) On the application of not less than one-fifth of
the whole number of members of a registered society, or of
not less than one hundred members in the case of a registered
society having more than one thousand members, the
Registrar may, with the consent of the Minister—
(a) appoint one or more inspectors to
examine into the affairs of the society,
and to report thereon, and the
inspector or inspectors may require
the production of all or any of the
books and documents of the society,
and may examine upon oath its
officers, members, agents, and
servants in relation to its business,
and may administer the oath
accordingly; and
(b) call a special meeting of the society in
the manner and at the time and place
he thinks fit, and may direct what
matters shall be discussed and
determined at that meeting, which
shall have all the powers of a meeting
called according to the rules of the
society and in all cases have power to
appoint its own chairman, any rule of
the society to the contrary
notwithstanding:
Provided that—
(i) the application herein
mentioned shall be supported
by the evidence required and
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Power of the
Registrar to
inspect
societies’
books, etc.
[17 of 1954]
directed by the Registrar for the
purpose of showing that the
applicants have good reason for
requesting that the inspection
be made or the meeting called,
and that they are not actuated
by malicious motives in their
application, and such notice
thereof shall be given to the
society, as required and
directed by the Registrar;
(ii) the Registrar may, if he thinks
fit, require the applicants to
give security for the costs of the
proposed inspection or
meeting, before appointing any
inspector or calling the
meeting;
(iii) all expenses of and incidental to
the inspection or meeting shall
be defrayed by the members
applying for it, or out of the
funds of the society, or by the
members or officers, or former
members or officers, of the
society, in the proportions
directed by the Registrar; and
(iv) this section shall not apply to a
society having branches, except
with the consent of the central
body of that society.
(2) The Registrar may in his absolute discretion
and without assigning any reasons for doing so appoint an
accountant to inspect and if necessary audit the books of a
society at any time and to report to him thereon. A person
appointed as an accountant under this section shall have all
the powers, privileges and authority of an auditor appointed
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Inspection of
societies’
premises.
[17 of 1954
37 of 1961]
under the Act. The cost of such inspection and audit shall be
met from the Audit Fund as constituted by this Act.
(3) Any person whether connected with the society
or not, who hinders, obstructs or molests any person
appointed by the Registrar to inspect or audit the books,
accounts, securities and documents of such society, shall be
liable to a fine of four thousand eight hundred and seventy-
five dollars and to imprisonment for one month.
50. (1) The Registrar may enter and inspect or may
authorise any person in writing to enter and inspect the
registered office or any place of meeting of any society at any
reasonable time by day or night and may examine the
condition and affairs of such society and make such enquiries
as are necessary to ascertain its condition and ability to
provide for the payment of the benefits payable under its
rules and whether or not it has complied with all the
provisions of this Act.
(2) The officers and servants of such society shall
produce the books, accounts, vouchers, documents, moneys
and records of the society for the inspection by the Registrar
or person authorised in writing, and shall otherwise facilitate
such examination as far as it is in their power, provided that
the books, accounts, vouchers, documents, moneys and
records of the society may be required by the Registrar to be
produced at the office of the Registrar or at such other
convenient place as the Registrar may direct.
(3) Every request, requisition or order made or
given by the Registrar or authorised person under the
provisions of this section shall be carried into effect within
such time as the Registrar shall appoint not exceeding one
month, by the society, officer or servant to whom the same
may be directed, and every society, officer or servant who
shall in any way disobey or not carry into effect such request,
requisition or order shall be guilty of an offence.
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Inquiry.
[17 of 1954]

51. (1) The Registrar may of his own motion or at the
request of a member or on the application of a creditor of a
society by himself or by a person or persons duly authorised
by him in writing in this behalf, hold an inquiry into the
constitution, working or financial condition of the society and
the position or standing of any member in the society and
may investigate all claims against the society, its debt and
liabilities.
(2) Nothing herein contained shall prevent the
appointment by the Registrar under this section of an officer
or officers of the society to carry out an inquiry hereunder.
(3) The remuneration of any person or persons
authorised by the Registrar under this section and the other
expenses of the inquiry shall be such as the Registrar shall
approve and shall unless the Registrar otherwise directs, be
borne by the society.
(4) The result of an inquiry under this section shall
be communicated to the society whose affairs have been
investigated and in the case of a creditor, to the creditor.
(5) All officers and members of the society whose
affairs are investigated shall furnish such information in their
possession in regard to the affairs of the society as the
Registrar or person authorised by the Registrar may require.
(6) If any person wilfully hinders or delays the
Registrar or any person duly authorised by him under this
section in the exercise of any powers under this section, or
fails to comply with the requisition of the Registrar or said
duly authorised person in pursuance of this section, or to
produce any books, accounts, ledgers, receipts, vouchers,
documents or moneys which he is required to produce, that
person shall be deemed to obstruct the Registrar or said duly
authorised person in the execution of his duties under this
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Removal of
officer.
[17 of 1954]
section.
(7) Every person who obstructs the Registrar or
duly authorised person in the execution of his duty under this
section shall be guilty of an offence.
(8) For the purpose of holding an inquiry under
this section the Registrar or other authorised person shall
have power to administer oaths and affirmations and shall be
vested with the powers of a magistrate for compelling the
attendance of witnesses, maintaining order and otherwise
duly conducting the said inquiry. Persons summoned to
attend at any such inquiry shall be legally bound so to attend.
52. (1) (a) If at any time it appears to the
satisfaction of the Registrar after due
inquiry into the facts (the officer or
other person being afforded a full
opportunity of being heard) that an
officer of a society, whether elected or
otherwise, has been guilty of
negligence, irregularity or
misconduct, such officer or person
may be removed from office by order
of the Registrar, and the Registrar
shall notify the society concerned and
direct that it proceed to the election of
a substitute in the place or stead of
such officer or person removed as
aforesaid. In the event that the society
shall fail to elect an officer to fill the
vacant office within one month of the
date of such direction the Registrar
may thereupon appoint a new officer
to fill such vacant office temporarily.
(b) (i) Every officer or other person
who is removed by order of the
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Registrar, having the custody of
any books, ledgers, vouchers,
registers, bills, documents,
moneys or other property or
matter belonging to a society or
relating to the business or
affairs of a society shall
forthwith deliver up to the
Registrar, or to any person
authorised by him, such books,
ledgers, vouchers, registers,
bills, documents, moneys or
other property or matter.
(ii) Any officer or other person
who shall fail to deliver all or
any such books, ledgers,
vouchers, registers, bills,
documents, moneys, property
or matter shall be liable on
summary conviction to a fine of
sixteen thousand two hundred
and fifty dollars, or to
imprisonment for three months.
(2) In every case in which the Registrar shall
remove an officer of a society or other person from office he
shall if required to do so by an order of a magistrate transmit
forthwith to such magistrate any papers, documents, report
or other matter upon which such order of removal was made
and if the magistrate on perusing and considering the same
shall be of opinion that the officer ought not to have been
removed he may call upon the Registrar to show cause why
an order should not be made for the reinstatement of such
officer. Any order may command such officer either forthwith
or on the expiration of any given time as may appear to the
magistrate to be just, to do, execute, or perform any duty or
duties appertaining to or in connection with his said office
and may order the payment by such officer of such costs and
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Passing and
registration of
special
resolutions.
expenses as the magistrate may think fit.
(3) The time in which to perform or fulfil any duty
may be extended on application to a magistrate, upon such
terms, and for such time as the magistrate in his discretion
may think fit.
(4) Every application to a magistrate by an officer
or other person who has been removed by order of the
Registrar shall be made within thirty days from the day upon
which the order of removal was issued, unless further time be
allowed by a magistrate upon special circumstances
accounting for the delay as may appear to the magistrate to be
just.
(5) Any officer or other person removed from
office by order of the Registrar under this section shall
thereupon cease to hold office in the said society from the
date of such order for the remainder of his then current term
of office and shall be disqualified for being elected and for
being an officer of any society for a period not exceeding five
years as the Registrar shall determine, next after the end of his
aforesaid current term of office.
53. With respect to special resolutions by registered
societies, the following provisions shall have effect:
(a) a special resolution is one which is
passed by a majority of not less than
three-fourths of the members of a
society, for the time being entitled
under the rules of the society to vote,
present in person or by proxy (where
the rules allow proxies), at any
general meeting of which notice
specifying the intention to propose
the resolution has been duly given
according to the rules, and which
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Cancellation or
suspension of
registration of
societies.
resolution is confirmed by a majority
of those members, for the time being
entitled under the rules to vote, who
are present in person or by proxy
(where the rules allow proxies) at a
subsequent general meeting of which
notice has been duly given, held not
less than fourteen days or more than
one month from the day of the
meeting at which the resolution was
first passed;
(b) at any meeting mentioned in this
section, a declaration by the chairman
that the resolution has been carried
shall be deemed conclusive evidence
of the fact; and
(c) a copy of every special resolution,
signed by the chairman of the meeting
and countersigned by the secretary of
the society, shall be sent to the
Registrar and be registered by him,
and until the copy is so registered the
special resolution shall not take effect.
PART III SUSPENSION AND DISSOLUTION
54. With respect to the cancellation or suspension of
the registration of societies, the following provisions shall
have effect:
(a) the Registrar may, or, in the case
hereinafter mentioned in paragraph
(iii) shall, by writing under his hand,
cancel the registration of a society—

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(i) if he thinks fit, at the request of
a society, to be evidenced in the
manner he directs, or
(ii) with the approval of the
Minister, on proof, to his
satisfaction, that a certificate of
registration has been obtained
by fraud or mistake, or that a
society exists or is used for an
illegal or improper purpose, or
has wilfully, and after notice
from him, violated any of the
provisions of this Act, or has
ceased to exist; or
(iii) by the direction of the Minister,
on proof, to the satisfaction of
the Minister, that a society
exists or is used for an illegal or
improper purpose;
(b) the Registrar, wherever he might,
with the approval or by the direction
of the Minister, cancel the registration
of a society, may, or shall, with or by
the like approval or direction, by
writing under his hand suspend the
registration, for any term not
exceeding three months, and may or
shall, with or by the like approval or
direction, renew the suspension from
time to time for the like period;
(c) not less than two months’ previous
notice in writing, specifying briefly
the ground of any proposed
cancellation or suspension of
registration, shall be given by the
Registrar to a society before the
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Dissolution of
registered
societies.
[37 of 1961]
registration can be cancelled (except
at its request) or suspended; and
notice of every cancellation or
suspension shall be published in the
Gazette and in a newspaper circulating
in the county in which the registered
office of the society is situate, as soon
as practicable after the same takes
place;
of its registration, or from any suspension of
the registration which is renewed after six
months, in manner hereinbefore provided
for appeals from the refusal of the Registrar
to register a society; and
(e) a society whose registration has been
cancelled or suspended shall, from the time
of the cancellation or suspension (but if
suspended, only while the suspension lasts,
and subject also to the right of appeal hereby
given) absolutely cease to enjoy as a
registered society the privileges thereof, but
without prejudice to any liability actually
incurred by the society, which may be
enforced against the society as if the
suspension or cancellation had not occurred.
55. With respect to the dissolution of registered
societies, the following provisions shall have effect:
(a) a society may terminate or be
dissolved in any of the following
ways:
(i) upon the happening of any
event declared by the rules to
(d) a society may appeal from the cancellation
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be the termination of the
society;
(ii) respecting all societies other
than friendly societies, by the
consent of not less than three-
fourths of the members,
testified by their signatures to
the instrument of dissolution;
(iii) respecting friendly societies, by
the consent of not less than
five-sixths in value of the
members (including honorary
members, if any) testified by
their signatures to the
instrument of dissolution, and
also by the consent in writing of
everyone for the time being
receiving or entitled to any
relief, annuity, or other benefit
from the funds of the society,
unless his claim is first duly
satisfied, or adequate provision
is made for satisfying it, and, in
the case of a branch, with the
consent of the central body of
the society or in accordance
with the general rules of the
society; and
(iv) by the award of the Registrar in
the cases hereinafter specified;
(b) the instrument of dissolution shall set
forth—
(i) the liabilities and assets of the
society in detail;
(ii) the number of members and
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the nature of their interests in
the society respectively;
(iii) the claims of creditors, if any,
and the provision to be made
for their payment; and
(iv) the intended appropriation or
division of the funds and
property of the society, unless
that is stated in the instrument
of dissolution to be left to the
award of the Registrar;
(c) alterations in the instrument of
dissolution may be made with the like
consents as hereinbefore provided,
testified in the same manner;
(d) a declaration in writing shall be made
by three members and the secretary of
the society that the provisions of this
Act have been observed, and shall be
sent to the Registrar with the
instrument of dissolution; and any
person who knowingly makes a false
or fraudulent declaration in the
matter shall be guilty of a
misdemeanour;
(e) the instrument of dissolution, and all
alterations therein, shall be registered
in manner hereinbefore provided for
the registration of rules, and shall be
binding upon all the members of the
society;
(f) the Registrar shall cause a notice of
the dissolution to be notified at the
expense of the society in the manner
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hereinafter provided for notifying an
award of the Registrar for dissolution;
and unless, within three months of
the date of the Gazette in which the
notification appears, a member, or
other person interested in or having
any claim on the funds of the society,
commences proceedings to set aside
the dissolution of the society, and the
dissolution is set aside accordingly,
the society shall be legally dissolved
from the date of that notification, and
the requisite consents to the
instrument of dissolution shall be
considered to have been duly
obtained, without proof of the
signatures thereto;
(g) respecting friendly societies—
(i) the value of members shall be
ascertained by giving one vote
to every member, and an
additional vote for every five
years that he has been a
member, but to no one member
more than five votes in the
whole;
(ii) no instrument of dissolution
shall direct or contain any
provision for an appropriation
or division of the funds of the
society, or any part thereof,
otherwise than for the purpose
of carrying into effect the
objects of the society as
declared in the rules thereof,
unless the claim of every
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member or person claiming any
relief, annuity, or other benefit
from the funds thereof, is first
duly satisfied or adequate
provision is made for satisfying
that claim;
(iii) any officer or person who aids
or abets in the dissolution of a
society, otherwise than as in
this Act provided, shall be
liable to a fine of four thousand
eight hundred seventy-five
dollars; and
(iv) if any member of a dissolved
society, or any person claiming
any relief, annuity, or other
benefit from the funds thereof,
is dissatisfied with the
provision made for satisfying
his claim, that member or other
person may apply to the
magistrate’s court of the district
within which the chief or any
other place of business of the
society is situate for relief or
other order, and the court shall
have the same powers in the
matter as in regard to the
settlement of disputes under
this Act;
(h) respecting dissolutions and the
distribution of funds upon the award
of the Registrar—
(i) on the application of not less
than one-fifth of the whole
number of members of any
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registered society, or of not less
than one hundred members in
the case of a society having
more than one thousand
members, made in writing
under their hands, setting forth
that the funds of the society are
insufficient to meet the existing
claims thereon, or that the rates
of contribution fixed in the
rules of the society are
insufficient to cover the benefits
assured by it, and the grounds
upon which the insufficiency is
alleged, and requesting an
investigation into the affairs of
the society with a view to the
dissolution thereof, the
Registrar may, by himself or by
any actuary, or public auditor,
or other person whom he
appoints in writing under his
hand, investigate the affairs of
the society, giving,
nevertheless, not less than two
months’ previous notice in
writing to the society whose
affairs are to be investigated at
its registered office;
(ii) if, on the investigation, it
appears that the funds of the
society are insufficient to meet
the existing claims thereon, or
that the rates of contribution
fixed in the rules of the society
are insufficient to cover the
benefits assured to be given by
it, the Registrar may, if he
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considers it expedient to do so,
award that the society shall be
dissolved, and its affairs
wound up, and shall direct in
what manner the assets of the
society shall be appropriated or
divided:
Provided that the Registrar may suspend his award for
any period he deems necessary to enable the society to make
the alterations and adjustment of contributions and benefits
which will, in his judgment, prevent the necessity of the
award of dissolution being made;
(iii) the Registrar, when proceeding
under this section, shall have
all the same powers and
authorities, enforceable by the
same penalties, as in the case of
a dispute referred to him under
this Act;
(iv) every award under this section,
whether for dissolution or
distribution of funds, shall be
final and conclusive on the
society in respect of which it is
made, and on all members of
the society and other persons
having any claims on the funds
thereof, without appeal, and
shall be enforced in the same
manner as a decision on a
dispute under this Act; and the
expenses of every investigation
and award, and of publishing
every notice of dissolution,
shall be paid out of the funds of
the society before any other
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appropriation thereof shall be
made; and
(v) notice of any award for
dissolution shall, within
twenty-one days after it has
been made, be given by the
Registrar in the Gazette and in a
newspaper circulating in the
county in which the registered
office of the society is situate
and unless, within three
months from the date of the
Gazette in which the notice
appears, a member, or other
person interested in or having
any claim on the funds of the
society, commences
proceedings to set aside the
dissolution of the society
consequent upon the award,
and the dissolution is set aside
accordingly, the society shall be
legally dissolved from the date
of that notice, and the requisite
consents to the application to
the Registrar shall be
considered to have been duly
obtained, without proof of the
signatures thereto;
(j) this section shall not apply to a society
having branches except with the
consent of the central body of that
society; and
(k) notice shall be sent to the Registrar of
any proceeding to set aside the
dissolution of a society or branch, not
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Liability of
members in
winding-up.
[37 of 1961]

less than seven days before it is
commenced by the person taking that
proceeding, and of any order setting a
dissolution aside by the society or
branch, within seven days after that
order has been made.
wound up under the last preceding section, the liability of
present or past members of the society to contribute for
payment of the debts and liabilities of the society, the
expenses of winding-up, and the adjustment of the rights of
contributories amongst themselves shall be qualified as
follows:
(a) no individual or society who or which
has ceased to be a member for one
year or upwards prior to the
commencement of the winding-up
shall be liable to contribute;
(b) no individual or society shall be liable
to contribute in respect of any debt or
liability contracted after he or it
ceased to be a member;
(c) no individual or society not a member
shall be liable to contribute, unless it
appears that the contributions of the
existing members are insufficient to
satisfy the just demands on the
society.
56. When a society is dissolved and its affairs are
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Making false
entry in balance
sheet or book of
registered
society.
[6 of 1997]
Officer using
improper seal
or improperly
issuing
6 of 1997]
PART IV MISCELLANEOUSPROVISIONS
Offences
to be made, any entry or erasure on, or any omission from,
any balance sheet of a registered society, or in or from any
contribution or collecting book of a registered society, or in or
from any return or document required to be sent, produced,
or delivered, for the purposes of this Act, with intent to falsify
it or to evade any of the provisions of this Act, shall be liable
to a fine of forty-eight thousand seven hundred and fifty
dollars, recoverable on the complaint of the Registrar, or of
the society, or of any person aggrieved.
58. (1) Any officer of a registered society, or any
person on behalf of a registered society, who—
(a) uses any seal purporting to be the seal
of the society, whereon its name is not
so engraved as hereinbefore provided;
or
(b) issues or authorises the issue of any
notice, advertisement, or other official
publication of the society, or of any
bill of parcels, invoice, receipt, or
letter of credit, of the society, or signs
or authorises to be signed on behalf of
the society any bill of exchange,
promissory note, endorsement,
cheque, or order for money or goods,
wherein the name of the society is not
mentioned in the manner
hereinbefore provided,
shall be liable to a fine of forty-eight thousand seven hundred
and fifty dollars, and shall further be personally liable to the
[17of 1954
documents.
57. Everyone who wilfully makes, or orders or allows
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Penalty for
offence where
none
prescribed.
Proceedings
before
magistrates.

False represen-
tations as to
rules of society.
holder of the bill of exchange, promissory note, cheque, or
order for money or goods, for the amount thereof, unless it is
duly paid by the society.
(2) The penalty shall be recoverable on the
complaint of the Registrar, or of any officer of police, or of
anyone aggrieved.
59. Every society, or officer or member of a society, or
other person guilty of an offence under this Act for which no
penalty is expressly provided by this Act shall be liable to a
fine of four thousand eight hundred and seventy-five dollars.
60. Where in this Act it is enacted that any proceeding
may be had or taken before a magistrate or in a magistrate’s
court, every magistrate or magistrate’s court shall, unless the
contrary is expressed or implied, have full power and
jurisdiction to entertain the proceeding and determine the
matter involved.
61. Everyone who, with intent to mislead or
defraud—
(a) gives to any member of a registered
society, or to any person intending or
applying to become a member
thereof, a copy of any rules, or of any
alterations or amendments of the
rules other than those respectively
which have been registered by the
Registrar, on the pretence that they
are binding upon the members of the
society, or that there are no other
rules of that society; or
(b) makes any alteration in or addition to
any of the rules or tables of the society
after they have been registered by the
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Making of
regulations.

Use of forms.
[17 of 1954]
Second
Schedule.

Use as evidence
of official
documents.
[17 of 1954]
Registrar, and circulates them
purporting that they have been duly
registered, when they have not been
so duly registered; or
(c) gives to any person a copy of any
rules, on the pretence that those rules
are the rules of a registered society,
when the society is not registered; or
(d) forges or counterfeits, or utters,
knowing it to be forged or
counterfeited, the seal of a registered
society,
shall be guilty of a misdemeanour.
Regulations, etc.
62. The Minister may make regulations for defining
the duties and functions of the Registrar under this Act; and,
generally, for the better carrying out of the provisions of this
Act.
63. The forms contained in the Second Schedule, with
such variations and additions as the circumstances of any
particular case require, shall be used in the cases to which
they respectively apply.
64. Every instrument or document, or copy of or
extract from an instrument or document, bearing the seal or
stamp, if any, of the Deeds Registry or of the Registrar, shall
be received in evidence without further proof; and every
document purporting to be signed by the Registrar, or any
inspector, or auditor, under this Act, shall, in the absence of
any evidence to the contrary, be received in evidence in all
courts of justice and for all other purposes, without proof of
the signature, or of the official position of any person signing
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Protection of
rights of
militiaman,
yeoman or
volunteer.

Procedure and
appeal.

Audit Fund.
[17 of 1954]

it, and shall be prima facie evidence of the truth of all matters
contained therein.
65. No person, by reason of his enrolment or service
in any corps of militia, yeomanry, or volunteers whatsoever,
shall lose or forfeit any interest which he possesses, at the
time of his being so enrolled or serving, in any friendly
society, whether registered or unregistered, or be fined for
absence or non-attendance at any meeting of the society, if his
absence or non-attendance is occasioned by the discharge of
his military duty as certified by his commanding officer, any
rules of the society to the contrary notwithstanding.
66. Any penalty imposed by this Act may be
recovered, and punishment for any offence not being an
indictable offence may be enforced, under the Summary
Jurisdiction Act.
Existing Societies
67. (1) There shall be constituted a fund to be known
as the Friendly Societies Audit Fund, and every society shall,
when called upon to do so by the Registrar, make annually a
contribution to such Fund.
(2) The contributions under subsection (1) shall not
exceed the amounts prescribed by order of the Minister; they
shall be held by the Registrar and administered by him on
behalf of the contributing societies.
(3) The Government may from time to time, and to
augment such contributions, make such grants to the Fund as
it may deem fit.
(4) The Registrar shall report in every year to the
Government in respect of the income derived from
contributions, the expenditure he has sanctioned from the
Fund, and the balance in his hands.
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Exemption
from stamp
duties,
registration fees
and income tax.

Application to
existing
societies.
[17 of 1954]
68. (1) The Minister, by notification in the Gazette,
may, in the case of any society or class of societies registered
under this Act remit—
(a) the stamp duty with which, under
any law for the time being in force,
instruments executed by or on behalf
of a registered society or by an officer
or member thereof and relating to the
business of such society or any class
of such instruments are respectively
chargeable, or
(b) any fee payable under the law of
registration for the time being in
force.
(2) A notification exempting any registered society
or class of societies from the fees referred to in subsection
(l)(b) may provide for the withdrawal of such exemption.
(3) The Minister may from time to time and for
such period as he thinks fit, by order, exempt any registered
society, or class of societies from payment of income tax
under any Act relating to income tax for the time being in
force in Guyana.
69. The Act as amended by the Friendly Societies
(Amendment) Ordinance 1954 (herein referred to as the 1954
Ordinance), shall apply to societies subsisting at the
commencement of the 1954 Ordinance as if they had been
registered after the date of commencement of the
1954Ordinance and the rules of those societies shall so far as
they are not contrary to any express provisions of this Act and
subject to the approval of the Registrar continue in force until
altered or rescinded.

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s. 6.
[O. in C.
12/9/1938
37 of 1961
6 of 1997]
--------------------
FIRST SCHEDULE TABLE OF FEES PAYABLE TO THE REGISTRAR
$ cts.
1. For considering application for registration
and proposed rules of society or branch
thereof, registering society or branch
thereof and its rules, and giving an
acknowledgment of registration—
(a) in the case of a friendly society, a
benevolent society, or a working
men’s club, or of a branch thereof
(b) in the case of a specially authorised
society, or of a branch thereof
2
10
00
00
2. For examining any new rules or any
proposed alteration or amendment of
existing rules and registering the same, if
necessary and giving an acknowledgment
of registration
1
00
3. For registration of any special resolution 1 00
4. For registration of the amalgamation of
two or more societies or the conversion of a
society into a company
2
00
5. For every appointment of inspectors or
calling of a special meeting by the Registrar
5
00
6. (1) For the determination of the Registrar
on a dispute or for his award for
dissolution or distribution of funds, where
the matter is settled without a hearing or
upon one hearing without adjournment
(2) And if more than one hearing or an
adjournment becomes necessary then $325
5
00
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more for every hearing after the first, and
for every adjournment:
Provided that the Registrar may, in
exceptional cases, reduce or dispense with
the fee for the determination of a dispute.
7. For every inspection on the same day of
documents whether one or more in the
custody of the Registrar relating to one and
the same society:
Provided that the Registrar may
dispense with the fee for inspection of
documents in cases where he may consider
it for the public interest so to do.
0
25
8. For every copy or extract of any document
in the custody of the Registrar, whether
certified or not by the Registrar per folio of
72 words
(but never less than 25 cents)
0
08
9. For every document (except as otherwise
provided) required to be signed by the
Registrar or to bear the seal of his office,
not chargeable with any other fee to the
Registrar
0
50
10. No fee shall be payable for
(a) any return required to be filed with
the Registrar under section 26 of the
Act;
(b) any notice of change of the situation of
office;
(c) any notice of appointment of trustees
or other officers given to or by the
Registrar;
(d) any document or copy of document
supplied to a public department;
(e) any instrument of dissolution or any
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s. 63
s. 11
s. 15
amendment therein.
--------------------
SECOND SCHEDULE
FORMS
FORM 1
Application for Registration of a Society
GUYANA.
To the Registrar of Friendly Societies.
We, the undersigned, being members of a society for [here
state the objects and situation of the Society] and being desirous
that the said society should be registered under the Friendly
Societies Act, under the name of [here state the proposed name of
the Society] hereby make application that the said society may
be registered accordingly; and we transmit herewith two
copies of the rules of the said society [and, if any officers have
been appointed, two lists of the officers thereof].
Dated this day of , 20 .
(Signed)
NOTE.—The application, the rules, and the list of officers, if any,
must be signed by seven members at least, including the secretary of
the society.
______________
FORM 2
Acknowledgment of Registration of Society
GUYANA.
The Society is registered as a [here state the
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s. 19

s. 19
s. 23
class in which the society falls] under the Friendly Societies Act,
this day of , 20 .
(Signed)
Registrar of Friendly Societies.
FORM 3
Acknowledgment of Registration of Branch
GUYANA
The [here state the name of the branch] is registered as a
branch of the (and of the branch of the same) under the
Friendly Societies Act, this day of ,20 .
(Signed)
Registrar of Friendly Societies.
FORM 4
Acknowledgment of Registration of Amendment of Branch Rules
GUYANA.
The foregoing amendment of the branch rules of the
Society is registered under the Friendly Societies Act, this day
of , 20 .
(Signed)
Registrar of Friendly Societies.
FORM 5
Acknowledgment of Registration of Amendment of Rules
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s. 31
GUYANA.
The foregoing amendment of the rules of the Society is
registered under the Friendly Societies Act, this
day of , 20 .
(Signed)
Registrar of Friendly Societies
FORM 6
Bond to be given by Officer of Society in receipt of Money
GUYANA
Know all men by these presents, that we, A.B., of one of the
officers of the Society, established in the county of and C.D.,
of
(as surety on behalf of the said A.B.), are jointly and severally
held and firmly bound to the said society in the sum of
dollars, to be paid to the said society, for which
payment well and truly to be made we jointly and severally
bind ourselves and each of us by himself, our and each of our
heirs, executors, and administrators, firmly by these presents.
Dated this day of , 20
(Signed)
A.B.
C.D.
Whereas the above-bounden A.B. has been duly
appointed to the office of the Society, established as aforesaid,
and he, together with the above-bounden C.D. as his surety,
has entered into the above-written bond, subject to the
condition hereinafter contained:—Now therefore the
condition of the above-written bond is such, that if the said
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s. 22
Name and
office.
Objects, terms
of admission,
fines.
Meetings,
voting, and
rules.
A.B. do render a just and true account of all moneys received
and paid by him on account of the said society, at such times
as the rules thereof appoint, and do pay over all the moneys
remaining in his hands, and assign and transfer or deliver all
property (including books and papers) belonging to the said
society in his custody or possession to such person or persons
as the said society, or the committee of management thereof,
appoint, according to the rules of the said society, together
with the proper and legal receipts or vouchers for those
payments, then the above-written bond shall be void,
otherwise shall remain in full force.
Signed in our presence on the above-mentioned day.
(Signed)
L.M.
N.O.
_________________
THIRD SCHEDULE
MATTERS TO BE PROVIDED FOR BY THE RULES OF A
REGISTERED SOCIETY
1. Name and place of office of the society.
2. The whole of the objects for which the society
is to be established, the purposes for which the funds
thereof shall be applicable, the terms of admission of
members, the conditions under which any member may
become entitled to any benefit assured thereby, and the
fines and forfeitures to be imposed on any member.
3. The mode of holding meetings and right of voting,
and the manner of making, altering, or rescinding rules.

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Committee and
officers.

Financial
matters.
Annual
returns.
Inspection of
books.

Settlement of
disputes.

Division of
profits.

Withdrawal of
members.

Seal.
Matters in case
of friendly
society.
4. The appointment and removal of a committee of
management (by whatever name) and of a treasurer and other
officers, and, in the case of a society with branches, the
composition and powers of the central body, and the
conditions under which a branch may secede from the
society.
5. The investment of the funds, the keeping of the
accounts, and the audit thereof once a year at least.
6. The making of annual returns to the Registrar of the
receipts, funds, effects, and expenditure, and the number of
members, of the society.
7. The inspection of the books of the society by every
person having an interest in its funds.
8. The manner in which disputes between the society
and any of its members or shareholders, or any person
claiming through a member under the rules, shall be settled.
9. In the case of a dividing society, a provision for
meeting all claims upon the society existing at the time of
division before the division takes place.
10. The right of withdrawal of members and the time
and manner in which that right may be exercised.
11. The device on, and the custody and use of, the seal
of the society.
12. And also, in the case of a friendly society:
(a) the keeping separate accounts of all moneys
received or paid on account of every particular fund or
benefit assured for which a separate table of contributions
payable has been adopted, and the keeping separate accounts
of the expenses of management, and of all contributions on
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account thereof;
(b) the making of returns every five years to the
Registrar of the sickness and mortality of the society;
(c) a valuation once at least in every five years of the
assets and liabilities of the society, including the estimated
risks and contributions;
(d) the voluntary dissolution of the society by consent
of not less than five-sixths in value of the members, and of
every person for the time being entitled to any benefit from
the funds of the society, unless his claim be first satisfied or
adequately provided for;
(e) the right of not less than one-fifth of the total
number of members, or of not less than one hundred
members in the case of a society having more than one
thousand members, to apply to the Registrar for an inspection
of the affairs of the society, or for winding it up.

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SUBSIDIARY LEGISLATION
_________________
O.12/1957 FRIENDLY SOCIETIES AUDIT FEES ORDER
made under section 67
Citation.
Contribution to
Friendly
Societies Fund.
1. This Order may be cited as the Friendly Societies Audit Fees Citation. Order.
2. The contributions specified in the Schedule shall be
made to the Friendly Societies Audit Fund constituted under
section 67 of the Act in accordance with subsection (1) of that
section.
--------------------
SCHEDULE
(1) For auditing the accounts of societies (except
benevolent societies, working men’s clubs and specially
authorized societies) registered under the Act, the scale of
payment shall be:
(a) When a society consists of fifty (50) members
or less
$6.00
(b) When a society consists of more than fifty
(50) members and not more than two
hundred (200) members for the first fifty
members
for each additional twenty-five (25) or part of
twenty-five (25) members
6.00
2.00
(c) When a society consists of more than two
hundred (200) members and not more than
one thousand (1,000) members, for the first
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[Subsidiary]
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two hundred members
for each additional fifty (50) or part of fifty
(50) members
18.00
2.00
(d) When a society consists of more than one
thousand (1,000) members, for the first
thousand member
for each additional hundred (100) or part of
one hundred (100) members
50.00
2.00
(2) For auditing the accounts of benevolent societies,
working men’s clubs and specially authorised societies, the
scale of payment shall be:
(a) Where receipts and payments added together
do not exceed $1,000
$6.00
(b) Where receipts and payments added together
exceed $1,000, but do not exceed $4,000 for the
first $1,000
for every additional $500 or part thereof
6.00
2.00
(c) Where receipts and payments added together
exceed $4,000, but do not exceed $20,000, for
the first $4,000
for every additional $4,000 or part thereof
18.00
2.00
(d) Where receipts and payments added together
exceed $20,000 for the first $20,000
for every additional $1,000 or part thereof
50.00
2.00
________________