A cooperative society is one of the forms that many businesses use. Some of the important features of a cooperative society are joint ownership and democratic leadership. Let us take a brief look at their features and some types of societies. Before going into the discussion about its features and types of cooperative society, one question must have arisen in your mind.

What is a Cooperative society?

A cooperative society is a voluntarily united association of persons to fulfil their economic, social, cultural needs. The Board of directors are elected in the democratic procedure. Each of the members has one vote. It works on the principle of mutual help and welfare.

Before discussing the merits of the cooperative society, let’s have a glimpse of the features and types of cooperative society:

Features of a Cooperative Society

• A cooperative society is a voluntary association of members. Members of the society have complete freedom to either join the society or leave the society whenever they want. 
• To operate a cooperative society of any type it is necessary to get it registered through legal procedure.
• Working of the cooperative society doesn’t get affected if some member of the society leaves or dies.
• Members elect management committee members by using their voting rights.
• By and large, the state controls the working of a cooperative society.
• The only liability for the members of the cooperative society is to contribute capital. All the decision making is taken by the managing committee.
•  The elected managing committee has all the powers and authority to make decisions. The procedure of forming a Managing Committee is democratic. Members of the cooperative society exercise their right to vote, to elect members who will finally form a managing committee.
•  The basic idea behind the formation of a cooperative society with the help of the cooperative society act 1912 is mutual help and welfare of society. Hence, providing service to society utterly dominates the working of cooperative society. The principle of service dominates its work. If it makes any profit or surplus, it is distributed among the society members equally.

There are so many advantages to forming a cooperative society:

1. Easy formation: As we understood it is a voluntary association of people. It required only 10 people to qualify for registration. The registration procedure is also very easy with minimum legal formalities.
2. Open membership platform: Any person from the same locality, tribe and group can join as a member of a cooperative society. A member of the cooperative society can formally leave the cooperative society any time he or she wants.
3. Democracy in management: All cooperative societies run on democratic principles. Every member has equal voting rights and even could have a say in management.
4. Less liability: Liability of the society is limited to contributing capital, there is no individual liability for the debt on the cooperative society.
5. Stable Organisation: The stability of the organisation isn’t sacked by death, insolvency, incapacity and lunacy of any member.
6. Under government backing: Government provides multiple facilities to a cooperative society like giving loans at lower rates and providing exemption in taxation.
7. Cooperation between members: A cooperative society with its working nature, promotes the idea of mutual understanding, individual help and self-government.
8. Low-cost management: Much managerial work of the society used to be done by the member of the society voluntarily. Many members of society take an active interest in working for society. It helps to keep the managerial cost in check. 
9. No speculation: Shares of a cooperative society aren’t sold at higher than its actual cost. It is an open platform and any member can become a shareholder of the cooperative society.
10.  Economic Advantage: Cooperative society gives financial help to lower-income groups, farmers in the form of low-cost loans.
11. Cheap Goods: A cooperative society has many members. Hence, its buying capacity is much more than an individual. They can directly deal with the wholesalers and producers and get goods at cheaper prices.
12. Personal liberty and social justice: It can flourish under capitalist, democratic as well as communist ecosystems. It ensures members of the cooperative society as well as society.
13. Motive to serve: The idea behind the formation of the cooperative society is to serve its members. Dissimilar from the other business models, it doesn’t focus on making a profit. It provides better goods at less price to its members.
14. Exemption in income tax: As cooperative societies form to serve a specific class, tribe or locality of people rather than to make profits. Government gives some sort of tax exemption.
15. No middlemen: Middlemen make products costly for the common people and hinder the progress of a specific class or locality. They are evils who hinder the progress of society. Cooperative societies solve this problem by eliminating the middlemen and empowering members to directly deal with the wholesaler and the producer. 
16. Durability: After getting registered cooperative society becomes a legal entity that is not affected by the bankruptcy and death of any member of the society. It reflects the stability of the cooperative society.

Conclusion:

Cooperative society helps in decentralising the power and work for the upliftment of specific small sections of the society. It empowers a particular area, class, caste, tribe to work for their own well-being under a government umbrella.