Foreign Remittance Increased By 900%: Relatives Abroad Can Now Send Upto Rs 10 Lakh To India

The Union Home Ministry has revised certain rules related to the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act (FCRA).

Limit of amount received from abroad

It raised the limit for the amount Indians can receive in a year from relatives staying abroad without informing the authorities.

The earlier limit was Rs 1 lakh which has now been raised to Rs 10 lakh.

Longer time given to inform the government

If the amount exceeds, the individual will now have 90 days to inform the government.

The earlier rules said that any person receiving a foreign contribution in excess of Rs 1 lakh in a financial year from any of his relatives shall inform the central government (details of funds) within 30 days from the receipt.

NGOs using foreign funds

Another amended rule gives individuals and organizations or NGOs 45 days to inform the home ministry about bank account (s) that are to be used for utilization of such funds.

This time limit was 30 days earlier.

Declaration of foreign funds

A provision has been omitted which deals with declaring foreign funds including details of donors, amount received, and date of receipt, etc. every quarter on its website.

Now, anyone receiving foreign funds will have to follow the existing provision of placing the audited statement of:

• Accounts on receipts and utilization of the foreign contribution
• Income and expenditure statement
• Receipt and payment account
• Balance sheet for every financial year beginning on the first day of April

All these have to be submitted within nine months of the closure of the financial year, on its official website or on the website as specified by the Centre.

Quarterly declaration removed

A provision where an NGO or an individual receiving foreign funds had to declare such contributions every quarter online has also been scrapped.

In case of change of bank account, name, address, aims or key members of the organization (s) receiving foreign funds, the home ministry has now allowed 45 days time to inform it, instead of previous 15 days.

Another important amendment is one that prohibits public servants from receiving foreign funding.

NGO/organization-specific rules

Aadhaar is made mandatory for every office-bearer of NGOs.

Organizations receiving foreign funds will not be able to use more than 20 percent for administrative purposes.

This limit was 50 percent before 2020.

All NGOs receiving funds have to be registered under the FCRA.