NEW DELHI: The Union Home Ministry has amended certain rules under the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act (FCRA) that will now allow Indians to receive up to `10 lakh in a year from relatives staying abroad without informing the authorities. If the amount exceeds this limit, a person will have a 90-day window to inform the government instead of 30 days earlier.
The FCRA Rules, 2022, were notified through a gazette notification on Friday night. Rule 6, which deals with intimation of receiving funds from relatives settled abroad, earlier stated that any person receiving foreign contribution “in excess of `1 lakh or equivalent thereto in a financial year from any of his relatives shall inform the central government (details of funds) within 30 days from the receipt of such contribution”.
Changes have also been made in Rule 9, which deals with application of obtaining ‘registration’ or ‘prior permission’ under the FCRA to receive funds. The time limit for individuals and organisations/NGOs to inform the home ministry about bank account(s) that are to be used for utilisation of such funds has been raised from 30 days to 45 days now. In case of change of bank account, name, address, aims or key members of the organisation(s) receiving foreign funds, the MHA has now allowed 45 days time to inform it, instead of previous 15 days.