A change report is how the Public Trust Register is kept true. When something recorded in the register changes — a trustee dies, resigns or is appointed, the trust buys or sells property, the address or the objects alter — Section 22 of the Maharashtra Public Trusts Act, 1950 requires the trustee to report it to the Deputy or Assistant Charity Commissioner in the prescribed form, which is Schedule III.
The period is 90 days from the date the change occurred. Most trusts miss it, usually for understandable reasons, and the law now accommodates that — but only if the report is actually filed.
What triggers a change report
The test is simple: has an entry in the register changed? If yes, it is reportable. In practice that means:
- Appointment of a new trustee, by whatever route the deed provides
- Resignation of a trustee
- Death of a trustee
- Removal of a trustee, or the end of a fixed term
- Change in the name or the registered address of the trust
- Acquisition or disposal of immovable property
- Amendment of the trust deed, including any change to the objects
- Change in the mode of succession to trusteeship
Things that are not reportable under Section 22 are just as worth knowing. A change of bank, an internal change of office-bearer titles that the register does not record, or a decision about the trust’s programmes are matters for the trust’s own records. Filing reports that are not required wastes months.
The two routes since 2017
The Maharashtra Public Trusts (Second Amendment) Act, 2017 split the procedure in two.
The fast route applies to changes in the names and addresses of trustees or managers. The report may be provisionally accepted within fifteen working days; a thirty-day window follows in which objections may be raised; and if nobody objects, acceptance becomes final without a full inquiry. If an objection is raised, the matter goes to inquiry, which the amendment contemplates being concluded within about three months.
The ordinary route applies to everything else — property, objects, deed amendments — and involves an inquiry in the prescribed manner before the entries are altered.
This distinction matters when planning. A board replacing two trustees is in a different position, in time, from a board recording a property sale, and it is worth knowing which you are before promising anyone a date.
Filing late
Before 2017 a late report was a genuine difficulty. The amendment added a proviso allowing the Deputy or Assistant Charity Commissioner to entertain a report filed beyond ninety days where sufficient cause is shown, with costs payable by the trustee.
What that means practically is that delay has to be explained, not concealed. A candid account — the founding trustee died and the family did not know the obligation existed; the records were with a secretary who left; the trust was dormant for a decade — is far better received than a report filed silently as though the change had just happened. Where several changes went unreported over many years, the reports are ordinarily filed and decided in sequence, oldest first, because each one establishes the board that made the next decision.
Documents filed with the report
The 2019 amendment to the Rules (Rule 13(2A)) sets out what must accompany a change report. Requirements are applied with some local variation, but the following is what is ordinarily expected:
| Change reported | Documents |
|---|---|
| New trustee appointed | Notice of the board meeting and the resolution; consent letter of the incoming trustee with full particulars; identity and address proof; the clause of the deed under which the appointment was made |
| Trustee resigned | The resignation letter; the resolution accepting it; an affidavit of the outgoing trustee |
| Trustee died | Death certificate; resolution recording the vacancy; the succession clause relied on |
| Registered address changed | Resolution; proof of the new address such as an agreement or utility bill |
| Property acquired or sold | The transfer deed; the Section 36 sanction where the transaction required one |
| Trust deed amended | The deed of amendment; the resolution; the clause permitting amendment |
| Every report | A copy of the trust deed or constitution, the registration number, and a current register extract |
Two practical points. The affidavit of the outgoing trustee is the item most often missing, and it is the one that stalls reports, because the office is unwilling to record a resignation on the word of the remaining board alone. And the clause of the deed should be quoted in a covering note rather than left to be found: an officer reading fifty files a week should not have to work out for himself which provision authorises what you did.
Where reports get stuck
- The appointment did not follow the deed. The deed required a particular majority, or reserved the power to named persons, or capped the number of trustees, and the board did something else. This is not cured by filing; the underlying decision has to be looked at.
- An earlier change was never reported. The board that made this appointment is not the board the register shows, so the report has to establish the intervening history first.
- Inconsistent names and spellings between the deed, the proofs and the report.
- An objection. A co-trustee or a family member objects within the thirty days, and the matter becomes contested.
- Accounts not filed. Not a bar to the report itself, but it is raised, and it colours everything else the trust asks for.
When a report is objected to
This is the point at which the matter stops being administrative. An objection turns the report into a contested proceeding before the Deputy or Assistant Charity Commissioner: pleadings, documents, evidence, hearing, and an order that decides who is on the board. It is decided on the trust deed and the record — not on who has been acting, who holds the bank mandate, or who has the keys to the premises.
Trusts sometimes try to settle these by filing competing reports. That does not work and it wastes time. Where a board is genuinely divided, the question is which set of appointments was validly made, and it has to be argued. See trustee disputes.
What happens if you simply do not file
Nothing, for a while. Then, all at once: the bank will not change signatories because the register shows different trustees; a purchaser’s advocate raises it on title; a funder finds the person signing the application is not a recorded trustee; an application for Section 36 sanction meets the gap before it reaches the merits; and an income tax application under 12A or 80G asks for particulars the trust cannot give consistently. Every one of those is a deadline someone else set.
Common questions
What is the time limit for filing a change report?
Ordinarily 90 days from the date the change occurred, under Section 22 of the Maharashtra Public Trusts Act, 1950. Since the 2017 amendment, a report filed after that period can be entertained where sufficient cause is shown, with costs payable by the trustee.
Which form is a change report filed in?
Schedule III to the Bombay Public Trusts Rules, 1951. It is filed with the Deputy or Assistant Charity Commissioner of the region in which the trust is registered — for Greater Mumbai, the office at Worli.
Does a new trustee need the Charity Commissioner’s approval before being appointed?
No. The appointment is made under the trust deed, by whatever method the deed provides. What requires reporting is the change to the register entry afterwards. But an appointment made in a way the deed does not permit is vulnerable, and the office may decline to record it.
What documents are needed to report a new trustee?
Ordinarily the notice and resolution of the board meeting, a consent letter from the incoming trustee with full particulars, identity and address proof, a copy of the trust deed with the clause relied on, and a current register extract. Where a trustee has resigned, an affidavit of the outgoing trustee is also expected.
How long does a change report take?
For a change in trustees’ names and addresses, the 2017 amendment allows provisional acceptance within fifteen working days followed by a thirty-day objection window, after which an unopposed report becomes final. Other changes go through an inquiry and take longer. A contested report takes longer still, because it is decided after hearing the parties.
We have not filed change reports for many years. What now?
They are normally filed and decided in sequence, oldest first, because each establishes the board that made the next decision. Obtain a current register extract, reconstruct the history from the trust’s own records, and file with a candid explanation of the delay.
What if the change we want is not permitted by the trust deed?
Then the change report is not the first problem. Whether the deed can be amended, and by whom, is governed by the deed itself and by the Act, and an amendment is itself a reportable change. This needs to be worked out before anything is filed.
Discussing a change report
Consultations are at chambers at 704 Classic Building, Gate No. 8, Malwani MHADA, Malad (West), Mumbai 400095, by appointment. For a change report a first discussion is usually held by telephone or WhatsApp with the deed and register extract sent electronically. Telephone or message +91 99301 50560, or use the contact page.
This page describes procedure in general terms. It is not legal advice, and what applies in a particular matter depends on its own facts and on the law as it stands at the time.
Documents annexed to a Schedule III change report
The change is reported in Schedule III. Since the Maharashtra Public Trusts Rules were amended in 2019 (Rule 13(2A)), the report is accompanied by the papers showing that the change was made properly:
| Document | What it shows |
|---|---|
| Notice or agenda of the meeting | That a meeting was properly convened and all eligible trustees were given notice of the date, time and the item to be decided |
| Copy of the resolution | That the quorum was present and the majority required by the trust deed voted for the change |
| Consent letters and details of incoming trustees | Signed consent to act, with address, mobile number, email and identity proof |
| Affidavit of an outgoing trustee | Confirmation by the trustee who is resigning or being replaced (Rule 6(4)); the Deputy or Assistant Charity Commissioner may exempt this where the trustee is deceased or cannot be traced |
| Letter of a sole trustee | Where the trust has one trustee, a signed letter of addition or deletion in place of a resolution |
| Trust deed, constitution and scheme | The rules against which the officer checks the notice, quorum and majority |
What happens after filing: the inquiry under Section 22
The report is not simply entered in the register. Under Section 22(2) the Deputy or Assistant Charity Commissioner can hold an inquiry to find out whether the change actually took place and whether it followed the trust deed and the law — for example whether notice was given, whether there was a quorum, and whether the resolution was passed by the required majority. The inquiry is limited to the change in the trust’s records; questions of title or other civil rights are for the civil courts.
Changes in immovable property: Schedule III-A
Where the change concerns immovable property, a memorandum in Schedule III-A is filed under Section 22(1A) and Rule 13(1A), giving the survey, CTS and plot numbers, boundaries and area, along with a copy of the registered conveyance, gift deed or other instrument (Rule 13(2B)). After the officer accepts the change, a copy of the memorandum is sent to the Sub-Registrar under Section 22(4) so that the trust’s interest is noted in the property records. Sale or a lease beyond the periods in Section 36 still needs the Charity Commissioner’s previous sanction — see Section 36 sanction.
Filing online on charity.maharashtra.gov.in
- Register on the portal: the trust requests login credentials using its registration details; the district office checks the request and sends a user ID and a password link to the trust’s email address.
- Enter the existing record (Schedule I): the trust enters its objects, deed details, mode of succession, trustees, financial details and movable property exactly as in the last accepted change report.
- Add immovable property: land and building details are entered one by one.
- Verification: the entries go to the Superintendent and Assistant Charity Commissioner, who compare them with the physical register; once approved, the electronic Schedule I becomes the working record.
- File the change report: the Schedule III form identifies the entries being deleted and added, the Rule 13(2A) documents are uploaded as PDFs, Schedule III-A is completed for property changes, and the fee is paid online.
- Acknowledgement: a change report number and receipt are generated; keep it as proof of filing within the 90 days.
Why an out-of-date register causes problems
- Banks: banks ask for a certified extract of the register before changing signatories; if trustees listed in it are retired or deceased, the mandate may not be updated.
- Property transactions: a purchaser’s or bank’s advocate will check that the trustees signing are the trustees on the register.
- Legal proceedings: a defendant can question whether persons not on the register are entitled to sue on behalf of the trust.
- Penalty: failure to report a change within time is an offence for which a penalty can be imposed under Section 66.
Contested change reports
- Appeal: a finding recorded under Section 22 can be appealed under Section 70 to the Charity Commissioner or Joint Charity Commissioner within 60 days of the order.
- Removal of trustees: a pending change report does not prevent proceedings for removal of a trustee under Section 41D; the two operate separately.
Closing a defunct trust: Section 22(3A)
Since the 2017 amendment, the Deputy or Assistant Charity Commissioner can inquire, on application or on his own motion, into de-registering a trust where its purpose has been fulfilled, has become unlawful, or has become impossible to fulfil. Under Section 22(3B) the officer can take over the management of the remaining property and dispose of it, with the proceeds going to the Public Trusts Administration Fund.
Further reading
- Documents Required for a Change Report Before the Charity Commissioner (Rule 13(2A))
- Late Change Report: Condonation of Delay for Public Trusts in Maharashtra
- Schedule III-A: Reporting a Change in Trust Immovable Property
- De-registration of a Defunct Public Trust in Maharashtra (Section 22(3A))
Assistance with this matter
If you are dealing with a Charity Commissioner proceeding and would like assistance in preparing or filing your matter, you may contact this office through the Contact page to discuss the specifics of your trust or society.
See also: Changing the name or objects of a public trust.
See also: Sample formats for a change of trustee.
See also: The Trust & NGO Desk: everything for trusts and NGOs in one place.
Related guides
This page describes general procedure and is published for information only, in keeping with Rule 36 of the Bar Council of India Rules. It is not legal advice and does not solicit work. What applies to a particular matter depends on its own facts.