RBI: Under the Foreign Contribution Act (FCRA), foreign donations should come only in the FCRA account of SBI’s New Delhi main branch. RBI said in a circular that in the context of the extant requirements of the Ministry of Home Affairs, all details including name, address, country of origin of the donor, amount, currency and purpose of remittance are required to be recorded in such transactions.
Reserve Bank of India: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has made changes in NEFT and RTGS for transactions related to the Foreign Contribution Act. The RBI has taken this step after the Ministry of Home Affairs asked SBI to report on a daily basis about foreign donors, including money sent from abroad. Under the Foreign Contribution Act (FCRA), foreign donations should come to the FCRA account of SBI’s New Delhi main branch only.
Contributions
to FCRA account from foreign banks are sent through SWIFT (Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication) and from Indian banks through NEFT and RTGS. In a circular, the RBI said that with reference to the extant requirements of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MAH), all details including the name of the donor, address, country of origin, amount, currency and purpose of remittance are required to be entered in such transactions. .
The rules will come into effect from March 15.
SBI has to give information about this to the Home Ministry on a daily basis. The central bank said, “Necessary changes have been made in the NEFT and RTGS systems.” The directions will come into effect from March 15, 2023. RBI has asked banks to make necessary changes to get requisite details while sending foreign donations to SBI through NEFT and RTGS system.
Since the Modi government led government came to power in 2014, the rules related to FCRA have been tightened. Under this, FCRA registrations of about 2,000 non-governmental organizations (NGOs) have also been canceled for violating various provisions of the law.
