Fees of members

Initiation fees and annual dues are mandatory financial obligations that a candidate must be able to afford without causing hardship to himself or his family, as the Regional Grand Lodge of Southern India puts it. These payments cover the administrative costs of the lodge, its social functions, and statutory contributions owed to governing bodies 2. Daughter lodges pay statutory annual dues per member to both the Grand Lodge of India and the Regional Grand Lodge, as recorded on the Grand Lodge of India's website.

Historically, individual lodge by-laws set explicit fees for candidate proposition, initiation, visiting, and joining 1. A portion of per-capita annual dues and candidate initiation fees is frequently allocated to Grand Lodge charities, maintain aged brethren's homes, or build permanent endowment funds 1.

To retain full privileges, Masons must maintain their standing as subscribing members 1. Every subscribing member who is not in default in the payment of his subscriptions/dues remains eligible to hold office or be elected Master or Treasurer, according to the United Grand Lodge of England. Members can be excluded from a lodge for non-payment of subscriptions according to the lodge by-laws and rule regulations, as the United Grand Lodge of England states.

While some jurisdictions allow members to commute annual dues into a single life-membership payment, others refuse to recognize life membership or prohibit bulk dues payments on the grounds that it leads to financial improvidence within the lodge 1.