This page is informational and is not legal advice. It describes rules, orders and rulings as published or reported on the dates shown; read the primary text before relying on any of it.
A multi-state co-operative society operates in more than one state and is therefore registered under the Multi-State Co-operative Societies Act, 2002 rather than under any single state's co-operative law. Its registrar is the Central Registrar, not a state Registrar of Co-operative Societies.
The Multi-State Co-operative Societies (Amendment) Act, 2023 added a Co-operative Election Authority and a Co-operative Ombudsman with a three-month grievance timeline, along with a fund for rehabilitating sick societies.
What it changes, and what it does not
It changes who supervises the co-operative. A society answering to the Central Registrar is outside the reach of any one state's rules on co-operative governance, which matters where a state has legislated on matters such as agent commission.
It does not change banking status. Kokan Mercantile Co-operative Bank, which runs doorstep pigmy collection from Mumbai, is registered under the 2002 Act and is still a licensed co-operative bank, so its deposits carry DICGC cover up to ₹5,00,000 per depositor.
It does not make a society a bank. A multi-state credit society without a banking licence is still a society, and none of the 2023 amendments brings it under RBI's banking supervision or under deposit insurance. The ombudsman it introduced handles grievances about the co-operative; it is not deposit insurance.
The practical test is unchanged whatever the registration: ask whether the institution holds a banking licence, rather than reading it off the signboard.