In India public charitable organisations can be registered as one of the following:
Registering a not-for-profit organisation lends legal credibility to the organization, helps provide a corporate identity and entitles it to various tax exemptions.
A public charitable trust is usually floated when there is property involved, especially in terms of land and buildings.
Legislation: Different states in India have different Trusts Acts in force; in the absence of a Trusts Act in any particular state or territory the general principles of the Indian Trusts Act, 1882 are applied.
The trust deed: The main instrument of any public charitable trust is the trust deed, which spells out the aims, objectives and mode of management of the trust. A trust deed must specify the minimum and maximum number of trustees and how trustees can be appointed or removed. It should be signed by both the settlor/s and trustee/s in the presence of two witnesses. It should be executed on non-judicial stamp paper, the value of which depends on the valuation of the trust property.
A trust comes into existence the day the trust deed is signed.
Trustees: A trust needs a minimum of two trustees; there is no upper limit to the number of trustees. The board of management comprises the trustees.
The application for registration should be made to the office of the charity commissioner or the official having jurisdiction over the region where the trust is to be registered.
After providing details in the prescribed application form, the applicant has to affix a court fee stamp of Rs 2 on the form and pay a nominal registration fee, which may range from Rs 3 to Rs 25, depending on the value of the trust property.
The application form should be signed by the applicant in the presence of the regional officer or superintendent of the regional office of the charity commissioner or a notary.
The application form should be submitted with a copy of each the following: