According to current legislation, the society should have at least 10 persons, the majority of whom should be citizens of Singapore and its nature should not be a company, association, partnership, a co-operative, a mutual benefit organization, a trade union, foreign insurers or a learning institution committee.
Furthermore, the President, Treasurer and the Secretary of the society must also be Singapore Citizens or Permanent Residents. These and the requirements for the society to be majorly composed of Singapore Citizens are null and void if.
– The society is religious in nature.
– The society is represented by single race members.
– The society’s objectives and activities are to promote any cause of interest or discuss an issue which pertains to particular genders or sexual orientation.
– The society’s objectives and activities are to promote and represent a person or group of persons who are promoting or advocating civil or political issues such as civil rights, human rights or animal rights.
– The society’s objectives are to promote the use of or status of any language.
– The society’s objective is to promote arts apart from classical music or works.
The following information will need to be provided before the society can be registered:
– The society name along with two alternative names with their meaning and significance.
– Email, telephone number and/or Fax number.
– Physical address where the administration of the society will be carried out.
– The Constitution of the Society in a word document.
– The Constitution of the Affiliate Body, if applicable in English.
– Letters of Affiliation, where necessary in English.
– Letters of Approval/Support from government agencies, organizations, personalities, academia etc, where necessary, in English.
The following information will need to be provided on the committee members:
– Name, NRIC No / FIN / Passport No., Date of Birth
– Title of Office (e.g. President, Secretary, Treasurer, Ordinary Member, etc)
– Residing Address
– Nationality, Resident Status in Singapore
– Gender, Marital Status, Race, Dialect Group, Religion
– Contact Information
– Educational Qualifications, Present Employment Status
– Membership in other societies, if any.
The application for the society can be submitted via normal physical channels or automatic online registration.
In case of automatic registration, the society must fall under any of the Schedule Section 4 (1) and 33A. If the nature of the society does not comply with any of the schedule then it will need to be registered through the normal process.
Once the application is submitted, a society which went via normal registration processes will have to wait for the In-Principal Approval from ROS before they can make the payment; however a society which is registered using automatic registration can make the payment and commence operations without any waiting or delays.
Furthermore, a society which has been registered under normal registration can only commence its activities after it has been listed in the Gazette, failing which, a penalty of no more than SGD 500 will be imposed. If the society still continues to function, then a fine of SGD 500 per day will be imposed until activities are ceased.
Once the society starts to function, it will be required to submit an Annual Return Form 6A to the ROS which consists of the management committees’ particulars. The form will need to be submitted within one month of every AGM (Annual General Meeting), if there are no AGM however, then the Form will need to be submitted by the end of the year. The date of the AGM will need to be determined by the management committee and must be mentioned in the society’s constitution.
The form will need to detail on how many voting and nonvoting members are there in the society. A copy of the society’s income and expenditure along with the balance sheet of the audited previous year must be submitted in writing as well in accordance with Societies Regulation 7(1)(b), that is unless the society can declare in writing that it does not have any monetary transactions, assets or liabilities for the specified year.