Registration under Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act, 2010

OVERVIEW

FCRA, 2010 has been enacted by the Parliament to consolidate the law to regulate the acceptance and utilization of foreign contribution or foreign hospitality by certain individuals or associations or companies and to prohibit acceptance and utilization of foreign contribution or foreign hospitality for any activities detrimental to national interest and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto.

Applicability:

As per Section 1(2) of FCRA, 2010, the provisions of the act shall apply to:

1. Whole of India
2. Citizens of India outside India; and
3. Associate Branches or subsidiaries, outside India, of companies or bodies corporate, registered or incorporated in India

Registration:

Eligibility:

1. Be registered under an existing statute like the Societies Registration Act, 1860 or the Indian Trusts Act, 1882 or Section 8 of Companies Act, 2013. AND
2. Normally be in existence for at least three years and has taken reasonable activity in its chosen field for the benefit of the society, the association should have spent at least Rs.10,00,000/- over the last three years on its aims and objects, excluding administrative expenditure.

Procedure:

Application for grant of registration is to be submitted online in form FC-3 at the website fcraonline.nic.in

All requisite documents are to be uploaded with the application. It doesn’t need to submit that application in physical form.

Following details to be filled:

1. Details of applicant/Association

1. Name in full
2. Address
3. Telephone No. of the Association(with TDS code)
4. Email address of the Association
5. Official website address, if any
6. Telephone and mobile(with TDS code) of the Chief Functionary

2. Details of Registration

1. Name of the Act like societies, Trust or section 8 of companies act, 2013, under which the association is registered.
2. Name, date and place of registration(self-certified copy of the registration certificate to be enclosed)
3. PAN of the association

3. Nature of Association:

1. Religious
2. Cultural
3. Economic
4. Educational
5. Social

Note: If Religious Association, state whether (a) Hindu (b) Sikh (c) Muslim (d) Christian (e) Buddhist (f) Others.

4. Main aim(s) and Object(s) of Association (Enclosed self-certified copy of relevant pages of the MOA/or AOA, showing aim(s) and Objective(s) of Association).

5. (a) Details of the key functionaries of the association: Name, Fathers name, nationality, Aadhaar No., Occupation, Designation in the Association, Relationship with other members, Contact details Office address, residential address, e-mail address and mobile no.

(b) If any of the above is foreigner(including PIO/OCI Card Holder) Details thereof: Name, date and place of birth, Passport No., Address in foreign country, Whether a person of Indian origin, POI/OCI card no., if any and if resident in India then date from which residing in India.

6. Amount of fee paid (Rs.): (Applicable fee 2,000 to be paid online at the time of application).

7. Whether any key functionary of the association has, in discharge of his/her official functions or private conduct:

1. Been convicted by any court of law
2. Under prosecution for any offence
3. Has been prohibited from accepting foreign contribution
4. Is a current key functionary of any other association
5. Is a key functionary of any other association against whom an order under section 13 and 14 of the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act, 2010 has been passed.
6. Has been found guilty of diversion or mis-utilisation of the funds of the association or any other association in the past.

Note: If any of the replies to (a) to (f) above is “yes”, then full details of the case must be given.

8. Whether the Applicant Association:

1. Is a branch/unit/associate of a foreign based organization or another association already registered under the Act. If so. Name, address of the organization, registration no. and date.
2. Attracts section 10 of the Act, and if so, details of the order passed by the Central Government under section 11(3) of the Act.

9. Details of Designated FC Bank account for receipt of Foreign Contribution:

1. Name of Bank
2. Branch Address(with PIN code)
3. IFSC Code
4. Account No.

As per the revised amendment prior to the registration, designated account is required to be setup in SBI. The Central Government vide notification dated 07.10.2020 has notified New Delhi Main Branch (henceforth NDMB) of SBI, 11, Sansad Marg, New Delhi-110001 as specified branch.

The documents to be uploaded with the application for grant of registration: The scanned copies of following documents are required:

1. Signature of the chief functionary(Max. 50kb jpg format)
2. Seal of the Association(Max. 100kb allowed jpg format)
3. Registration certificate of the association(Max. 1mb pdf format)
4. Memorandum of Association/Trust Deed (Max. 5mb pdf format)
5. Activity Report for last 3 year(Max. 3 mb pdf format)
6. Audited statement of accounts for the last three years(Max. 5mb pdf format)

For registration, the association is required to pay a fee of Rs. 2,000/- only. The fee is to be paid while filling online form through payment gateway. No Bank draft/cheque is accepted.

Generally, the time taken for FCRA registration is six months but it could differ if the NGO has several branches. The reason is that after online filing, within 1 month, the officers of Intelligence Bureau, Department of Ministry of Home Affairs visits the workplace of the organization to verify whether it is properly working in a genuine way or not.

Registration is to be renewed:

As per Section 16 of FCRA, 2010 every person who has been granted a certificate of registration under Section 12 thereof shall have such certificate renewed within six months before the expiry of the period of the certificate. FCRA registration is valid for 5years from the date of grant of registration.

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