How to register a charitable trust in India

To register a charitable trust in India, you draft a trust deed in which a settlor hands property to trustees for charitable purposes, pay your state’s stamp duty, and register the deed with the local sub-registrar. In states with a public trusts law, such as Maharashtra and Gujarat, you also register the trust with the Charity Commissioner. Then the trust gets its own PAN and bank account, and applies for income-tax registration.

A trust is the lightest of the three legal forms for an NGO. It has no members and no elections: the trustees run it, as the deed says. That suits a small group of founders who want to keep the work steady. If you are still deciding between a trust, a society and a Section 8 company, start with our comparison.

This guide covers the kind of trust you need, what goes in the deed, the registration steps, the states with a Charity Commissioner, documents, costs, and the steps after registration. The rules vary by state, so treat it as a map and check the details with your sub-registrar, Charity Commissioner’s office or a local lawyer.

Public and private trusts

A trust has four parts: a settlor, who creates it by handing over property; trustees, who hold and manage that property; beneficiaries, for whose benefit it is held; and the trust deed, which sets out the rules.

• A private trust benefits particular people, such as a family. It is governed by the Indian Trusts Act, 1882.
• A public charitable trust benefits the public, or a section of it, through charitable purposes such as education, relief of the poor or medical relief. Section 1 of the 1882 Act says the Act doesn’t apply to religious or charitable endowments, so public charitable trusts are governed by state public trust laws where they exist, by general principles of trust law and by their own deed.

An NGO needs a public charitable trust. Only a trust whose property is held for the public benefit, under an irrevocable trust, wholly for charitable or religious purposes in India can be registered for tax exemption under Section 332 of the Income-tax Act, 2025 (Section 332(2)).

Before you draft: trustees, property and name

Trustees. No central law sets a minimum number for a public charitable trust; check your state’s law if it has a public trusts Act. In practice, have at least three, so that no decision rests on one or two people. The settlor can be a trustee. Look for a mix of skills (someone who understands money, someone close to the community you serve) and at least some trustees who aren’t related to each other. A trust run by one family is legal, but funders question it.

Trust property. The settlor usually settles a modest sum of money to start the trust. If the settlor gives land or a building, the deed must be registered under the Registration Act, 1908, and stamp duty may depend on the property’s value.

Name and office. Choose a name that isn’t already used by another trust nearby, and a registered office with the owner’s written consent. Notices from the registrar, the bank and the Income Tax Department will go there.

What goes in the trust deed

The deed is the trust’s constitution. A good one covers:

1. The name and registered office of the trust.
2. The settlor and the trust property, and a clear statement that the trust is irrevocable: the settlor can’t take the property back.
3. The objects: charitable purposes, broad enough for the next 20 years and not tied to one address or one activity.
4. The first trustees, the minimum and maximum number, how trustees are appointed, removed and replaced, and how long they serve.
5. Trustees’ powers: to open bank accounts, accept donations and grants, hire staff, enter agreements, buy and sell property.
6. Meetings and decisions: how often trustees meet, the quorum, how decisions are taken and recorded, and who chairs.
7. Accounts and audit every year, and who signs cheques or approves payments.
8. No private benefit: trust income and property are used only for the objects, and trustees declare and step back from decisions where they have a personal interest.
9. An amendment clause that allows changes without altering the trust’s charitable character.
10. A dissolution clause: if the trust closes, its property goes to another charity with similar objects, never back to the settlor or trustees.

Registering the deed: the steps

1. Finalise the deed with a lawyer who knows your state’s law. Copied templates from other states often cite the wrong Act or registrar.
2. Pay stamp duty as your state’s Stamp Act requires, by stamp paper or e-stamping. The amount varies by state and sometimes by the value of the property settled.
3. Sign the deed with witnesses.
4. Register it with the sub-registrar for the area where the trust’s office is. The settlor, and usually the trustees, appear in person with identity and address proofs and photographs, and pay the registration fee. The sub-registrar returns the registered deed.
5. In states with a public trusts Act, register the trust there too, by applying to the Charity Commissioner’s office for your region.
6. Keep the registered deed and the certificate safe, and make several certified copies. Banks, the Income Tax Department and funders will all ask for them.

Even where the law doesn’t strictly require the deed to be registered (for example, when only money is settled), register it anyway. A registered deed is far easier for banks, funders and the tax authorities to rely on.

States with a Charity Commissioner

Maharashtra. The Maharashtra Public Trusts Act, 1950, called the Bombay Public Trusts Act until 2012, covers public trusts in the state. The trustees must apply for registration within three months of the trust’s creation (section 18), to the Deputy or Assistant Charity Commissioner of the region, with an appeal to the Charity Commissioner. The Act’s definition of a public trust includes societies registered for charitable purposes, so charitable societies in Maharashtra register as public trusts too. Registered trusts must report changes, such as new trustees, within 90 days (section 22), and need the Charity Commissioner’s prior sanction to sell, exchange or gift immovable property, or to lease it beyond the periods the Act sets (section 36).

Gujarat. Public trusts register with the Charity Commissioner’s office under the Bombay Public Trusts Act, 1950 as it applies in Gujarat.

Other states. A few other states have their own public trust laws. Elsewhere, there is no Charity Commissioner, and registering the deed with the sub-registrar is the main step. Ask your sub-registrar or a local lawyer which applies to you.

Documents you’ll need

Time and cost

There is no national fee schedule for trusts. Stamp duty and registration fees are set by each state, and professional fees vary. Once the deed is drafted, registration at the sub-registrar can be quick; registration with a Charity Commissioner usually takes longer, because the office examines the application. Ask two or three advisers for a written quote that lists stamp duty and government fees separately from their own fee, and be wary of offers to register “any trust, any state, in 24 hours”: speed is fine, but a generic deed isn’t.

After registration: PAN, bank account and tax

1. PAN. Apply online for the trust’s own Permanent Account Number, using the registered deed. Never use a trustee’s personal PAN for the trust.
2. Bank account. Open an account in the trust’s name with the deed, the PAN and a trustees’ resolution naming the signatories. Set it up so that payments need two signatories. Under the money-laundering record-keeping rules, banks must make sure an NGO client is registered on NITI Aayog’s NGO Darpan portal, so get your Darpan ID early.
3. Income-tax registration. If the trust hasn’t started its activities, apply on Form 104 (formerly Form 10A) for provisional registration under Section 332 and provisional approval for donors’ deduction under Section 354 (formerly 80G). Provisional registration lasts three tax years. Once activities start, apply for regular registration on Form 105 (formerly 10AB) within six months of starting them. See income-tax registration for NGOs.
4. TAN, if you’ll deduct tax at source from salaries, rent or contractors’ bills.
5. Later: Form CSR-1 to receive CSR money (an independent NGO also needs a three-year track record), and FCRA registration or prior permission before accepting any foreign contribution.

Common mistakes

• A clause letting the settlor revoke the trust, or sending property back to the founders on dissolution.
• Objects tied to one activity or address (“running a library at 14 Station Road”).
• No way to remove a trustee who stops turning up.
• Missing the three-month deadline for the Charity Commissioner in Maharashtra.
• Collecting donations in a trustee’s personal account before the trust’s account is open.
• Promising donors a tax deduction before the Section 354 approval comes through.

The Academy’s Starting an NGO course has a lesson on registering a trust, and an exercise on spotting good and bad clauses in a founding document. For what comes next, see your NGO’s first-year checklist.