Centre amends Foreign Contribution Regulation Act allowing relatives to freely send Rs ten lakh to India

Union Home Ministry has amended the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) giving certain relaxations such as allowing relatives to send more money to India freely.

The amended rule now allows relatives to send Rs 10 lakh without informing the government. If the amount exceeds, the individuals will now have three months to inform the government against 30-days earlier.

The amended rule also gives more time to the organisations to inform the government about opening of bank accounts for utilization of funds received under 'registration' or 'prior permission' category.

The new rules — Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Amendment Rules, 2022 — were notified by the ministry of home affairs (MHA) through a gazette notification on Friday. The notification stated, "In the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Rules, 2011, in rule 6, for the words "one lakh rupees", the words "ten lakh rupees" shall be substituted; and for the words "thirty days", the words "three months" shall be substituted."

Rule 6 deals with intimation of receiving foreign funds from relatives. It stated earlier that "any person receiving foreign contribution in excess of one lakh rupees or equivalent thereto in a financial year from any of his relatives shall inform the Central government (details of funds) within 30 days from the receipt of such contribution."

A provision where an organisation/individual receiving foreign funds had to declare such contributions every quarter on its official website has also been done away with.

The Centre has also omitted provision 'b' in rule 13, which dealt with declaring foreign funds including details of donors, amount received, and date of receipt every quarter on its website. Now, anyone receiving foreign funds under the FCRA will have to follow the existing provision of placing the audited statement of accounts on receipts and utilisation of the foreign contribution, including income and expenditure statement, receipt and payment account and balance sheet for every financial year beginning on the first day of April, within nine months of the closure of the financial year, on its official website or on the website as specified by the Centre.

Similarly, making changes in rule 9, which deals with application of obtaining 'registration' or 'prior permission' under the FCRA to receive funds, the amended rules give individuals and organisations 45 days to inform the MHA about bank account(s) that are to be used for utilisation of such funds. This time limit was earlier 30 days.