The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has extended the deadline till December 31 for NGOs to apply for renewal of their Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act (FCRA) registration certificates. The registration is mandatory for associations and NGOs to receive foreign funds.
The Ministry had earlier given a relief up to September 30 to NGOs whose registration was expiring between September 29, 2020-September 30,2021. The latest order says the deadline for NGOs certificates or registration expiring between September 29, 2020 to December 31, 2021 could apply for renewal till December 31, 2021.
The certificates of around 80% of NGOs are expected to expire on October 31 and as per norms they have to apply at least six months before the expiry of registration.
Registered NGOs can receive foreign contribution for five purposes — social, educational, religious, economic and cultural. The FCRA registration is renewed every five years.
The NGOs also have to compulsorily open an account with the SBI in Delhi to receive foreign contribution.
Amid a slew of amendments to the FCRA, 2010 that the Ministry introduced in 2020 in Parliament, it made form FC6C — an authorisation certificate mandatory to operationalise a bank account with SBI’s main branch in Delhi, another compulsory requirement. There are 22,762 FCRA registered NGOs.
