Types of Co – operative societies:

1. Consumers Co – operative: Consumer Co – operatives are organized by consumers that want to achieve better prices or quality in the goods or services they purchase. In contrast to traditional retail stores or service providers, a consumer co – operative exists to deliver goods or services rather than to maximize profit from selling those goods or services.

2. Producers Co – operative: Producer co – operatives are created by producers and owned and operated by producers. Producers can decide to work together or as separate entities to help increase marketing possibilities and production efficiency.

3. Marketing Co – operative: Co – operative marketing societies are associations of small producers formed for the purpose of marketing their produce. The marketing cooperatives perform certain marketing functions such as grading, warehousing, advertising etc.

4. Credit Co – operative: Cooperative credit societies are societies formed for providing short-term financial help to their members. Agriculturists, artisans, industrial workers, salaried employees, etc., form these credit societies.

5. Housing Co – operative: These co – operative housing societies are meant to provide residential accommodation to their members on ownership basis or on rent.

People who intend to build houses of their own join together and form housing societies. These societies advance loans to members, repayable over a period of 15 to 20 years.