Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA)

Govt. suspends FCRA clearance of four Christian groups for various reasons.
It is mandatory to have FCRA clearance from the Home Ministry for any organisation to receive foreign funds.
Foreign funding of voluntary organizations in India is regulated under FCRA act and is implemented by the Ministry of Home Affairs.
Under the Act, organisations require to register themselves every five years.
As per the amended FCRA rules, all NGOs registered or granted prior permission under FCRA are now required uploading details of foreign contributions received and utilized by them every three months on their website or the FCRA website.
NGOs now need to file their annual returns online, with the hard copy version dispensed with.
Who cannot accept Foreign Contribution?
- Election candidate
- Member of any legislature (MP and MLAs)
- Political party or office bearer thereof
- Organization of a political nature
- Correspondent, columnist, cartoonist, editor, owner, printer or publishers of a registered Newspaper.
- Judge, government servant or employee of any corporation or any other body controlled on owned by the Government.
- Association or company engaged in the production or broadcast of audio news, audio visual news or current affairs programmes through any electronic mode
- Any other individuals or associations who have been specifically prohibited by the Central Government