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NEW DELHI: NGOs and associations registered under the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) will now be required to annually declare details of movable and immovable assets created by them out of the foreign contributions received.
Amending the Foreign Contribution Regulation Rules, 2011 through a notification issued on September 22, the home ministry has revised Form FC-4 — to be filled up as part of annual returns required to be submitted by NGOs under FCRA — to introduce two new tables. Under the first table, the NGOs must list details of movable assets, their value at the beginning of the relevant financial year, value of assets acquired and disposed of during the financial year and their value as per the balance sheet at the end of the year.
In the second table relating to immovable assets, NGOs must list details of the land and buildings acquired from foreign contributions as on March 31 of the relevant financial year, their size, location and value as per the balance sheet. Currently, Form 4 only contains the field relating to purchase of fresh assets in the relevant year.
The change in rules came ahead of a six-month extension in validity of registration certificates issued to NGOs under FCRA, where such licence was or is due to expire between September 29, 2020 and March 31, 2024 but the application for its renewal has already been or will be submitted to the ministry before expiry of the validity.
“The validity of registration certificates of such entities whose validity was extended till 30.09.2023… and whose renewal application is pending, will stand extended till 31.03.2024 or till the date of disposal of renewal application, whichever is earlier,” states the public notice issued by FCRA division of the ministry on Monday.
It adds that for NGOs whose FCRA registration is expiring between September 30, 2023 and March 31, 2024, and which have applied or will apply for renewal before expiry of validity of the five-year licence, the licence “will stand extended up to 31.03.2024, or till the date of disposal of renewal application, whichever is earlier”.
The notice, however, clarified that the FCRA licence of NGOs whose renewal plea has already been turned down, will be deemed to have expired on the date of such refusal, rendering them ineligible to either receive or utilise any foreign contribution.
As per the home ministry’s FCRA website, 16,666 NGOs and associations with FCRA licence were active as on September 25, while the FCRA licence of 13,282 entities was deemed expired. The FCRA registration of another 20,694 NGOs to receive foreign funds, had been cancelled, it said.
Amending the Foreign Contribution Regulation Rules, 2011 through a notification issued on September 22, the home ministry has revised Form FC-4 — to be filled up as part of annual returns required to be submitted by NGOs under FCRA — to introduce two new tables. Under the first table, the NGOs must list details of movable assets, their value at the beginning of the relevant financial year, value of assets acquired and disposed of during the financial year and their value as per the balance sheet at the end of the year.
In the second table relating to immovable assets, NGOs must list details of the land and buildings acquired from foreign contributions as on March 31 of the relevant financial year, their size, location and value as per the balance sheet. Currently, Form 4 only contains the field relating to purchase of fresh assets in the relevant year.
The change in rules came ahead of a six-month extension in validity of registration certificates issued to NGOs under FCRA, where such licence was or is due to expire between September 29, 2020 and March 31, 2024 but the application for its renewal has already been or will be submitted to the ministry before expiry of the validity.
“The validity of registration certificates of such entities whose validity was extended till 30.09.2023… and whose renewal application is pending, will stand extended till 31.03.2024 or till the date of disposal of renewal application, whichever is earlier,” states the public notice issued by FCRA division of the ministry on Monday.
It adds that for NGOs whose FCRA registration is expiring between September 30, 2023 and March 31, 2024, and which have applied or will apply for renewal before expiry of validity of the five-year licence, the licence “will stand extended up to 31.03.2024, or till the date of disposal of renewal application, whichever is earlier”.
The notice, however, clarified that the FCRA licence of NGOs whose renewal plea has already been turned down, will be deemed to have expired on the date of such refusal, rendering them ineligible to either receive or utilise any foreign contribution.
As per the home ministry’s FCRA website, 16,666 NGOs and associations with FCRA licence were active as on September 25, while the FCRA licence of 13,282 entities was deemed expired. The FCRA registration of another 20,694 NGOs to receive foreign funds, had been cancelled, it said.
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