The Union Home Ministry is likely to extend the deadline for NGOs and associations registered under the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act (FCRA) to renew their registration until December 31. Thousands of NGOs and associations whose registrations were due to expire in October 2020 are stuck.
Every five years, the registrations are renewed. Only about 5,000 renewal applications have been processed so far. In the country, there are 22,762 NGOs registered under the FCRA. To receive foreign funds or donations, one must register under the Act. Many NGOs were unable to complete the process due to the pandemic and amendments to the Act in 2020 that imposed stricter compliance measures.
Operationalizing a designated FCRA bank account with the State Bank of India's main branch in Delhi was made mandatory as part of the changes. Only after receiving an authorisation certificate from the Ministry could the bank account be made operational. Several non-governmental organisations (NGOs) filed a lawsuit in court, claiming that despite meeting all requirements to open bank accounts by March 31, the process was not completed at the Ministry's end, causing them to be unable to receive foreign funds, which hampered their work.
The Ministry had given NGOs with registrations expiring between September 29, 2020 and September 30, 2021 until September 30 to apply for renewal. The deadline has been extended until December 31. Funds from abroad even those whose appeals are pending could be barred from accessing foreign funds if the applications are not scrutinised in a timely manner.
The Ministry's FCRA division is experiencing a staffing shortage as well as logistical issues. Because the division experienced a large number of personnel transfers, the new officers' identities and password logins were not generated in a timely manner, resulting in a significant backlog. Since 2015, all FCRA activities have been conducted entirely online.
The Ministry said in a statement on Monday that it refused to renew the Missionaries of Charity's FCRA registration on December 25 because "some adverse inputs were noticed." The Charity's registration was valid until October 31, but it was later extended until December 31 along with the registrations of other FCRA associations whose renewal applications were pending, according to the statement.