Indians are now allowed to receive up to Rs. 10 lakh per annum from the earlier limit of ₹1 lakh of relatives who live overseas without notifying the authorities, thanks to changes made by the Union Home Office to certain provisions of the Foreign Contributions (Regulation) Act (FCRA).
The Home Office also said in a statement that instead of 30 days, if the amount exceeds, individuals would now have 90 days to notify the government. On Friday, the Home Office published a Gazette notification of new regulations, Foreign Contribution Amendment Rules (Regulations), 2022. Disclosure of receipt of foreign funds from relatives is covered by Rule 6.
“In the Foreign Contribution Rules (Regulation) 2011, in Rule 6, – for the words “one lakh rupees”, the words “ten lakh rupees” shall be replaced; and for the words “thirty days”, the words ” three months “will be superseded,” the Union Home Office said in a notification.
In the previous notification, the Ministry of the Interior clarified that “any person receiving a foreign contribution greater than ₹1 lakh or equivalent in a financial year from any of his relatives must notify the central government (details of funds) within 30 days of receipt of such contribution”.
In addition, the updated regulations gave individuals and organizations or NGOs 45 days to notify the Home Office of the bank account(s) to be maintained for effective use of these finances. Rule 9 deals with the application of receiving “registration” or “prior authorization” under the FCRA to receive funds. This period expired thirty days ago.
Provision “b” of Rule 13 – which required the central government to disclose quarterly foreign money statements on its website with details of the donor, amount received, date received, etc. – has also been removed by the government.
Anyone receiving foreign financial support under the FCRA will now be required to meet the existing precondition to submit audited statement of accounts on receipts and use of foreign contribution, including statement of income and accounts, receipt and payment account and balance sheet for each financial year beginning on the first of April, within nine months after the end of the financial year, on its official website or on the website specified by the Centre. The condition that an NGO or individual receiving foreign funds was required to disclose such contributions on its official website every three months was also removed. The Home Office now gives organizations receiving foreign funding 45 days instead of 15 days to notify it of changes to bank accounts, names, addresses, objectives or key personnel.
The Department of the Interior strengthened FCRA regulations in November 2020, making it clear that NGOs that cannot be directly associated with a political party but are involved in political intervention such as bandhs, strikes or blockades drivers will be considered to be of a political nature if they actively participate in politics or party politics. Farmer organizations, student organizations, labor organizations and caste organizations are some of the organizations included in this category.
Government officials banned public employees from accepting foreign money under the FCRA amendment, and they made Aadhaar a prerequisite for all NGO office holders. According to the new regulations, organizations that receive foreign funding are not allowed to use more than 20% of these funds for administrative purposes. Before 2020, this percentage was capped at 50%. All NGOs that receive funding are required by law to register with the FCRA.
With entries from PTI.
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