Management Fund explained: this guide covers what it means, who it applies to, the step-by-step process, documents required, fees, due dates and penalties in India — so you can stay compliant with confidence and avoid costly mistakes.
This article explains the Maharashtra Public Trusts Act, 1950 as it applies in the State of Maharashtra, formerly the Bombay Public Trusts Act, 1950. Section 56Q lets the Charity Commissioner, with the State Government's previous sanction, have a duty of a committee performed and recover the cost; section 56QQ creates a Management Fund for each committee of an endowment covered by Chapter VII-A.
This article explains sections 56Q and 56QQ as amended up to Maharashtra Act No. XXXVI of 2018 (in force 21 May 2018), per the official text of the Law and Judiciary Department modified up to 19 December 2018. Maharashtra amended the Act again in 2019, 2020, 2024 and 2025; the amending texts consulted do not change these sections, but the current text should be checked on the Charity Commissioner's website before relying on them.
Section 56Q: with the previous sanction of the State Government, the Charity Commissioner may provide for the performance of any duty a committee is bound to perform and may direct that the expenses be paid by a person who has custody of a fund belonging to the committee. Section 56QQ: each committee has a Management Fund that vests in it. It is credited with balances held by the State Government before transfer, a sum not exceeding ten percent of the gross annual income of each endowment as the committee fixes with State approval, fees for inspection and copies, and other sums the State specifies. It pays honorarium, salaries and committee expenses.
Scope
These sections are in Chapter VII-A and apply to endowments explained in Sections 56C and 56D. The duties of the committee are in Sections 56N to 56P.
Section 56Q: duty performed by the Charity Commissioner
"The Charity Commissioner may, with the previous sanction of the State Government, provide for the performance of any duty which a committee is bound to perform under the provisions of this Act, or the rules or directions made or given thereunder, and may direct that the expenses of the performance of such duty be paid by any person who may have from time to time the custody of any fund belonging to the committee. If such duty is in connection with any endowment the payment shall be made out of the funds belonging to the said endowment."
| Element | What the text says |
|---|---|
| Who acts | The Charity Commissioner |
| Condition | "previous sanction of the State Government" |
| Duty covered | "any duty which a committee is bound to perform" under the Act, or rules or directions made or given under it |
| Who pays | "any person who may have from time to time the custody of any fund belonging to the committee" |
| If the duty concerns an endowment | Payment "out of the funds belonging to the said endowment" |
So the committee's neglect of a duty does not leave the endowment without a remedy. The Charity Commissioner steps in, but only after the State Government's sanction, and the cost falls on the committee's funds or on the endowment's funds, not on his office. The text does not print a notice to the committee before this is done. A more serious step against a committee, its supersession, is in Sections 56R and 56RR.
Section 56QQ: the Management Fund
Section 56QQ was inserted by Mah. 6 of 1964, s. 6, as the footnote prints.
Sub-section (1). "For each committee there shall be constituted a fund to be called the 'Management Fund' which shall vest in, and be under the control of the committee."
Sub-section (2): what is credited to the fund.
| Clause | Credit, as printed |
|---|---|
| (a) | save as provided in sub-section (3) for Kolhapur, "the total balances (whether in cash, securities or in any other form) standing to the credit of any endowment held by the State Government immediately before such endowment or the management thereof is transferred to, and vested in, the members of the committee under section 56D" |
| (b) | "a sum not exceeding ten percent, of the gross annual income of each endowment transferred to, or under the management of, the members of the committee as the committee may, with the approval of the State Government fix in this behalf" |
| (c) | "the fees charged for inspection of proceedings of the committee, and for copies of records, maintained by the committee" |
| (d) | "any other sum which the State Government may by order specify in this behalf" |
Clause (b) prints a ceiling, "not exceeding ten percent" of gross annual income, and no fixed rate. The committee fixes the sum, with the State Government's approval, having regard to the factors the text lists: the gross annual income, the annual expenditure on the objects and purposes, the liability (if any) to which the endowment is subject, and any other factors the State Government specifies for an endowment or a class. The text does not print a rate below the ceiling. Committees managing accounts for several endowments need clean books to show how the sum was worked out; books of accounts compliance support is available for that.
Sub-section (3): Kolhapur. The contributions known as "Devasthan cess" or by whatever name called, on Devasthan inam lands in the former State of Kolhapur, collected in the Devasthan Fund under the Sar Subha Vat number 20 dated 29 September 1917 and continued under the Sar Subha Jahirnama number 36 dated 5 November 1932, "shall, on the commencement of the Bombay Public Trusts (Amendment) Act, 1963, cease to be levied and collected" on those lands. The balance of the Devasthan Fund at that commencement, including the sum accumulated from the income of endowments in the former State of Kolhapur, "commonly known as the Amanat Fund", is to be credited to the Management Fund of the committee or committees in the Kolhapur district that the State Government specifies. This is a historical provision for one district.
Sub-section (4): what the fund pays. Subject to the Act and to any general or special order of the State Government, the Management Fund is applied to:
- the honorarium, fees and allowances of the chairman, treasurer and other members of the committee;
- salaries, allowances and other sums payable to the Secretary, officers and servants; and
- expenses lawfully incurred by the committee in exercising its powers and performing its duties as provided by section 56N.
Sub-section (5). "The custody and investment of the moneys credited to the Management Fund and the disbursement and payment therefrom and the audit of accounts of the Fund shall be regulated in the prescribed manner." The rules are not described here and should be checked.
Illustration. A committee in a Maharashtra district manages five endowments whose combined gross annual income, as shown in their accounts, is fixed by the committee's records. With the State Government's approval it fixes the sum payable into the Management Fund for each endowment at a figure below the ten percent ceiling and pays from the fund the Secretary's salary and the members' honorarium as the State Government has directed.
Need help with a committee's fund and accounts?
A Management Fund needs a ledger that separates each endowment and shows how the sum was fixed. Our team can set up the books and prepare the accounts through books of accounts compliance services.
Key takeaways
- With the State Government's previous sanction, the Charity Commissioner may have a committee's duty performed and direct who pays.
- Each committee has a Management Fund that vests in and is controlled by it.
- Credits: balances held by the State Government, up to ten percent of each endowment's gross annual income as fixed with State approval, fees for inspection and copies, and other sums the State specifies.
- The fund pays honorarium, salaries and committee expenses under section 56N.
- Custody, investment, payment and audit follow the prescribed manner.
Read next
- Sections 56N to 56P: duties of the committee and State Government directions
- Sections 56R and 56RR: supersession of committee and temporary administrator
- Section 57: the Public Trusts Administration Fund
Disclaimer: Based on the Maharashtra Public Trusts Act, 1950 as modified up to 19 December 2018 in the official text of the Law and Judiciary Department, Government of Maharashtra, as consulted on 3 October 2026. Maharashtra amended the Act again in 2019, 2020, 2024 and 2025; the current text, the Maharashtra Public Trusts Rules and the Charity Commissioner's circulars should be checked. This article is general information, not legal advice; check the official text before acting.