What Is FCRA Registration

What Is FCRA Registration
Foreign Contribution Regulation Act Registration (FCRA)
Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act is applicable to whole of India, including the State
of Jammu & Kashmir, Indian citizens, including those who are out of India or associations and
their subsidiaries, branches, etc. registered or incorporated in India come under the ambit of this
Act.  The Act is primarily meant for regulating acceptance and utilization of foreign contribution
and foreign hospitality to ensure that foreign funds are utilized in a manner consistent with the
values of sovereignty and integrity of the nation. Important definitions and  interpretations of
some of the commonly used terms and expressions in the FC(R) Act,1976 and FC(R) Rules 1976
are given in  Annex - 1.  Powers of the Central Government in implementing the Act are given in
Annex – 2.  Penal provisions stipulated under the Act are contained in Annex - 3.
2.2   Foreign Contribution
The Act envisages following four broad categories of restrictions on the receipt of foreign
contribution:
(i)  Category I (Section 4) : 
Section 4 of the Act precludes the following categories of persons from receiving foreign
contribution:
(a) candidates for election,
(b) correspondents, columnists, cartoonists, editors, owners, printers or publishers of the
registered newspapers,
(c) Judges, Government servants or employees of any Corporation,
(d) members of any legislature,
(e) political parties or office-bearers thereof.
(ii)  Category II (Section 5) : 
Section 5 of the Act provides that no organization of political nature shall accept any
foreign contribution without the prior permission of the Central Government.  Such organizations
are not permitted to receive any foreign fund since they are essentially involved in political
activities.  However, these organizations, which are notified in the official Gazette, can receive
foreign contribution with the prior approval of the Central Government.
(iii)  Category III   [Section 6(1) and (Section 6 (1A)] : 
Section 6 of the Act provides that no association having a definite cultural, economic, educational, religious or social programme can receive foreign contribution without seeking prior permission or getting registration from the Central Government. Guidelines regarding grant of registration and prior permission under the Act, common grounds for rejection of application and illustrative list of activities permitted under FCRA are provided in Annex - 4.
Any association involved in definite programmes for carrying out specific activities,
which may fall in the generic categories as  mentioned above, may apply for obtaining prior
permission or registration for receipt of foreign contribution.  After grant of registration or prior
permission under the Act, the association is permitted to receive the foreign contribution only
through one of the branches of the Bank as specified in the application and is required to intimate
the Central Government as to the amount of each foreign contribution received by it, the sources
and the manner in which such foreign contribution is received and also the purpose for which the
We are counted among the dependable providers of Foreign Contribution Regulation Act Registration Services based in India.
There are two ways of registration possible under FC(R) A.

• Regular registration (Apply inform F.C 8) - under this registration, there is no restriction (either the total amount or from specific donor) for receiving Foreign Contribution.
• Prior permission (Apply in Form F.C 1A) - under this registration, the permission is granted for a specific amount from a specific donor. A letter of intent from the donor to donate the amount must be enclosed along with the application form (Form F.C 1A).

FCRA wing of Foreigners’ Division, MHA brings out an Annual Report regarding the
receipt of foreign contribution by voluntary associations based on the Annul FC-3 returns (duly
certified by the Chartered Accountants) furnished by the organizations u/s 6(1) of FC(R) Act,
1976 read with Rule 4 (1)(a) of FC(R) Rules, 1976, for carrying out different activities and
programmes as per their respective charters.   The report also contains State/UT-wise, purposewise and donor/country-wise analysis of receipt of foreign contribution.   Since the data in the
Annual Report and the accounts are audited and verified by the Chartered Accountants, the
figures are accepted for inclusion in the report without any further verification by the officers of
Ministry of Home Affairs.  Therefore, the figures furnished in this report are a compilation and
analysis of data furnished by various associations and does not represent any primary data
generated by Ministry of Home Affairs