Trust Registration Process

Registration of Charitable Trust

Registration of Public Trust (Sec. 18 of Bombay Public Trust Act)
1. It shall be the duty of the trustee of a public trust to which this Act has been applied to make an application for the registration of the public trust.

2. Such application shall be made to the Deputy or Assistant Charity Commissioner of the region or sub-region within the limits of which the trust has an office for the administration of the trust or the trust property or substantial portion of the trust property is situated, as the case may be.

3. Such application shall be in writing, shall be in such form and accompanied by such fee as may be prescribed.

4. The application shall be made within 3 months of creation of the Public Trust.

5. The application shall inter alia contain the full detail as prescribed in the form of Schedule II – (under Rule-6).

6. Every application made under sub-section (1) shall be signed and verified in the prescribed manner by the trustee or his agent specially authorized by him in this behalf. It shall be accompanied by a copy of an instrument of trust, if such instrument has been executed and is in existence.

6A. Where on receipt of such application, it is noticed that the application is incomplete in respect of any particulars, or does not disclose full particulars of the public trust, the Deputy or Assistant Charity Commissioner may return the application to the trustee, and direct the trustee to complete the application in all respects or disclose therein the full particulars of the trust, and resubmit it within the period specified in such direction; and it shall be the duty of the trustee to comply with the direction.

7. It shall also be the duty of the trustee of the public trust to send memorandum in the prescribed form containing the particulars, including the name and description of the public trust, relating to the immovable property of such public trust, to the Sub-Registrar of the sub-district appointed under the Indian Registration Act, 1908, in which such immoveable property is situated for the purpose of filing in Book No.I under section 89 of that Act.

Such memorandum shall be sent within three months from the date of creation of the public trust and shall be signed and verified in the prescribed manner by the trustee or his agent specially authorized by him in this behalf.

When the Registering Officer is satisfied that the provisions of the Act as applicable to the document presented for registration have been complied with, he shall endorse thereon a certificate containing the word "registered", together with the number and page of the book in which the document has been copied. Such certificate shall be signed, sealed and dated by the Registering Officer, and shall then be the conclusive evidence that the Trust has been duly registered. A registered trust deed shall become operative (retrospectively) from the date of its execution.

Procedure for registration

The following documents are required to be filed for registration of a Charitable Trust.

Covering Letter

Application Form in Form –Schedule II under rule 6 duly notarised

Court fee stamp of Rs. 2/- to be affixed on application form

Certified copy of the Trust Deed

Consent letter of Trustees. (Blank Form enclosed)

The office of the Charity Commissioner maintains a register containing all details of the Trust; viz., Reg.No., name and address of the Trust, names of all the Trustees (Past & Present), mode of succession of Trusteeship objects of the Trust, particulars of documents creating a Trust, description of movable and immovable properties, particulars of encumbrances on trust property etc. This register is known as P.T.Register. A certified copy of the P.T. Registrar in Schedule-I (vide Rule 5) can be obtained by applying in simple application with Rs.10/- Court fee stamp by paying prescribed fees for the same. It is advisable for all the trusts to have a certified copy of P.T. Register entry.