Updated: September 20, 2020 3:26:56 pm
The Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Amendment Bill 2020 will be introduced in Lok Sabha by Interior Minister Amit Shah.
The government sought on Sunday to tighten the provisions of the Foreign Contributions Regulation Act (FCRA) of 2011 through a bill that proposes to include “public servants” in the prohibited category, reduce administrative expenses through of foreign funds from an organization to 20% from 50% earlier, make Aadhaar mandatory for registration, and empower the government to stop the use of foreign funds by an organization through “summary investigation.”
The 2020 Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Amendment Bill, which will be introduced at Lok Sabha by Interior Minister Amit Shah at 3pm, says that the need to strengthen the law has arisen due to various organizations ” they misuse or misappropriate “the funds that lead the government to cancel 19,000 such records in recent years.
“The annual inflow of foreign contribution has almost doubled between 2010 and 2019, but many recipients of foreign contribution have not used it for the purpose for which they were registered or were granted prior permission under said Law. Many of them also They were found to be deficient in guaranteeing compliance with basic laws, such as filing annual returns and maintaining adequate accounts. This has led to a situation in which the Central Government had to cancel registration certificates of more than 19,000 recipient organizations, including non-governmental organizations, during the period between 2011 and 2019. Criminal investigations also had to be initiated against dozens of such non-governmental organizations. -The government organizations that incurred in the misappropriation or misuse of foreign contributions “, says the statement of objectives and reasons for the bill.
The government has said that it is necessary to simplify the provisions of said Law “by strengthening the compliance mechanism, improving transparency and accountability in the receipt and use of foreign contributions worth billions of rupees each year and facilitating non-profit organizations. genuine government agencies or associations that work for the welfare of society ”.
Seeking to amend subsection (c) of subsection (1) of article 3 of the Law, the government has proposed to include the “public servant” also within its scope, to provide that they will not accept foreign contributions. Previously, it was restricted to legislators, electoral candidates, journalists, print and broadcast media, judges, government officials, or employees of any corporation or any other government-owned or controlled body.
It has also tried to prohibit any transfer of foreign contribution to any other association or person. The amendment to section 17 of the ACT has sought to provide that any person who has been granted a prior certificate or permit under section 12 will receive foreign contributions only in an account designated as an “ FCRA Account ” that must open at said branch. from the State Bank of India in New Delhi, as specified by the central government by notice. However, you have allowed the organization to transfer these funds to another account for use.
The government has also tried to give itself considerable powers to decide which organization, if it has obtained prior permission from the government for foreign contribution, will stop using its funds. The requested amendment to Section 11 of the Act empowers the government to stop the use of funds received but not used after a “summary investigation”. Previously, it was supposed to be done only after the person or association had been “found guilty” of violating the law.
“Whenever the Central Government, on the basis of any information or report, and after conducting a summary investigation, has reason to believe that a person who has been granted prior permission has violated any of the provisions of this Law, may, pending any additional consultation, indicate that said person will not use the unused foreign tax or receive the remaining part of the foreign tax that has not been received or, as the case may be, any additional foreign contribution, without the prior approval of the Government Central ”. the sought amendment to Section 11 says in the bill.
Regarding the suspension of registration under the Act, the amendment to Section 13 has sought to give the government the power to decide on the period of suspension beyond 180 days. “In article 13 of the main Law, in subsection (1), for the words’ for a period that does not exceed one hundred and eighty days to be specified ‘, the words’ for a period of one hundred and eighty days, or said period additional, not exceeding one hundred and eighty days, as specified, “will be replaced,” says the bill.
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