The Finance Ministry has authorised the sale of sixth tranche of electoral bonds on Saturday. The State Bank of India, the only institution authorised to deal in electoral bonds, will issue and encash them from November 1 to November 11.

"State Bank of India (SBI) in the sixth phase of sale has been authorised to issue and encash Electoral Bonds through its 29 Authorised Branches with effect from 01.11.2018 to 10.11.2018," the Ministry said in a statement.

SBI will issue electoral bonds from its 29 authorised branches thathave been set up in all state capitals. People from union territories can approach the designated branch in their closest state to purchase these bonds.

Electoral bonds will be valid for fifteen calendar days from the date of issue. No payment shall be made to any payee political party if the Electoral Bond is deposited after expiry of this validity period, the Finance Ministry said.

The electoral bond deposited by an eligible political party in its account shall be credited on the same day, the statement further said. The bond, however, can be encashed only via a bank account with the authorised bank, which is SBI.

The government notified the Electoral Bonds Scheme back in January 2018 as an alternative to cash donations to political parties in order to bring transparency in political funding. These bonds are like promissory notes, unlike other debt instruments, using which the system allows donors to pay political parties with banks as an intermediary.

As per provisions of the Scheme, electoral bonds may be purchased by a citizen of India, or entities incorporated or established in India. A person being an individual can buy electoral bonds, either singly or jointly with other individuals.

Only the registered Political Parties which have secured not less than one per cent of the votes polled in the last Lok Sabha elections or the State Legislative Assembly are eligible to receive the Electoral Bonds.

Edited by Vivek Punj