NEW DELHI: After introducing a more stringent regime for foreign-funded NGOs and associations with recent amendments to the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act, 2010, the government has now revised the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Rules, 2011 to make them stricter.
The rules require all entities seeking registration or prior permission under FCRA to be in existence for three years and having spent a minimum Rs 15 lakh on its core activities for the benefit of society during the last three financial years.
Importantly, the new rules add a sub-rule to Rule 3, stating that organisations specified under clauses (v) and (vi) of sub-rule 1 — which cover organisation of farmers, workers, students, caste and community-based organisations not directly aligned to parties but which advance political interests of such groups, as well as outfits that habitually engage in political action like bandhs, hartal, rasta roko — shall be considered of political nature if they participate in party politics. Entities of political nature are barred from receiving foreign contributions.
The new rules have also increased the application fee for grant of registrationto Rs 5,000 from Rs 3,000, and for grant of prior permission to Rs 10,000 from Rs 5,000. Also, the fee to be paid with application for renewal of FCRA registration has been fixed at Rs 5,000. If no application for renewal of registration is received or the application is not accompanied by the requisite fee before the expiry of validity of the certificate of registration, such validity shall be deemed to have ceased from the date of completion of five years from the date of the grant of certificate of registration, as per the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) (Amendment) Rules, 2020 notified on Wednesday.
The Central government, in exceptional cases or in cases where a person is controlled by the central government or a state government may waive the conditions requiring entities applying for registration/prior permission under FCRA to be in existence for three years and having spent Rs 15 lakh on its core activities aimed at benefit of the society for past three years. If an entity wants inclusion of its existing capital investment in assets like land, building, other permanent structures, vehicles, equipment in the computation of its spending during last three years, the chief functionary will have to give an undertaking that the assets shall be vested henceforth with the person till the validity of the certificate and will be utilised only for the activities covered under the Act and the rules.