The Cooperative Election Authority (CEA) has issued a revised order rationalising the payment of remuneration to Returning Officers (ROs) and Assistant Returning Officers (AROs) for conducting elections of Multi-State Cooperative Societies (MSCS). The new norms will come into effect from November 1, 2025, and will apply to all elections where the date of poll is on or after that date.
According to the latest order, the earlier system, introduced through an office order dated June 3, 2024, had linked the honorarium to 15 days of the basic pay of ROs and AROs.
This led to a wide variation in payments since the basic pay of officers, generally District Magistrates, differed significantly across districts. The remuneration in some cases ranged from Rs 39,000 to Rs 98,000, and in a few instances, AROs were drawing more honorarium than ROs.
The Authority also pointed out that the same rates were being claimed irrespective of whether elections were contested or uncontested, and even in cases of casual vacancies involving only a single post. Additionally, it was found that some ROs were handling multiple elections, particularly in states where cooperative societies are concentrated in capital regions or traditional cooperative hubs.
The CEA also received several representations from newly registered societies expressing difficulty in paying high remuneration due to limited resources and early-stage economic activities. Considering these factors, the Authority decided to adopt a graded structure for honorarium payments, thereby ensuring greater uniformity and fairness.
As per the revised structure, for regular elections of Boards of Directors and Office Bearers of societies listed in Schedule II and Multi-State Cooperative Banks, the remuneration will be Rs 50,000 for contested elections and Rs 25,000 for uncontested elections.
For other societies, the rates will be Rs 40,000 and Rs 20,000 respectively. In case of casual vacancies of Directors or Office Bearers, as well as for elections in newly registered societies with less than 250 members, the payment has been fixed at Rs 10,000 irrespective of whether the contest is involved or not.
The honorarium for Polling Personnel will remain unchanged at Rs 1,000 per election. Personal Assistants (PAs) to ROs and Data Entry Operators will also be treated as polling personnel and will receive Rs 1,000 per election.
The order, issued with the approval of the Cooperative Election Authority, is aimed at bringing transparency, parity and financial discipline in the payment structure for officials involved in the conduct of cooperative elections.
