Notices provided Recently on Foreign Relief Disallowance or FCRA

The FCRA licence is a compulsory and obligatory registration that allows an NGO or other non-profit organisation to receive donations from countries outside India or abroad.
According to the FCRA’s official website reports and publications, around 12,000 non-profit groups and institutions have stopped accepting foreign donations. And this was mainly due to the following reasons:
i) Their registration has been revoked because of the violations of the Fair Credit Reporting Act, or
ii) They have not made the relevant application for licence renewal in a timely manner. In a general manner, Licenses approved and provided under the FCRA Act are generally valid for a term of 5 years or until the number of Foreign Contributions for which the permission was obtained has been fully utilised by such NGO or non-profit organisation.
According to the FCRA’s official website, around 12,000 organisations and entities have had their registrations cancelled or their validity expired. The below given are some of the famous and well-known entities falling under this stream:

• The Indira Gandhi National Centre for Arts,
• Tuberculosis Association of India,
• All India Marwari Yuva Manch,
• Bhartiya Sanskriti Parishad,
• Nehru Memorial Museum and Library,
• Maharishi Ayurveda Pratishthan,
• India Habitat Centre,
• Medical Council of India,
• Emmanuel Hospital Association,
• Vishwa Dharamayatan,
• National Federation of Fishermen’s Cooperatives Ltd, and
• Oxfam India.

The above given list also includes some of the colleges listed below:

• Hamdard Education Society,
• Lady Shri Ram College for Women,
• Delhi School of Social Work Society,
• DAV College Trust and Management Society,
• India Islamic Cultural Centre,
• Nuclear Science Centre in JNU,
• Asha Kiran Rural Educational Development Society,
• The Delhi Public School Society,
• Delhi College of Engineering.

However, in the light of the interest of the public, the Ministry of Human Resources Department has decided to extend the validity of FCRA registration certificates of NGOs whose validity was expiring on the dates of

• 29^thSeptember2020
• 30^th

This was extended to 31st March 2022 or until the date of disposition of their renewal applications, whichever comes first. This shall be applicable and made available only to those entities that have applied for renewal of their FCRA Certificate registration and whose application status is pending.
In September 2020, the government made changes to the FCRA standards, making them more stringent. Non-government groups that receive foreign financing will now be required to operate solely through bank accounts which is maintained with the State Bank of India in New Delhi.

FCRA Rules

The Ministry of Home Affairs, through the Notification No. II/21022/23(22)/2020-FCRA-III dated 31st of December 2021, stated that pertaining to Rule 12 of the Foreign Contributions (Regulations) Rules, 2011, whoever has submitted an application for the renewal of the FCRA Registration Certificate which was due for expiry between 29th September 2020 and 31st March 2022. The expiry date shall be extended to either of the following, but whichever is falling earlier:

1. Up to the date of 31^st March 2022, or
2. Date of disposal of the renewal application.

But to be eligible for such an extension, the entities should have complied with the below given points also:

1. The FCRA Registration Certificate of such entities were expiring between the period of 29^th September 2020 and 31^st March 2022, and
2. These entities have applied or will be using the official Portal of FCRA to renew their registration certificate prior to the expiry of the same, as stipulated in Rule 12 of the Foreign Contribution (Regulations) Rules, 2011.

It shall also be noted by these entities that, in case where any of the applications for renewal of the certificates has been refused, then their certificate shall be deemed to be expired on the proper date on which it has become expired and shall not be holding any longer the eligibility to neither receive the foreign contribution or utilize such received foreign contribution.
The entity XYZ’s FCRA Registration Certificate was expiring on October 10, 2021, and the application for its renewal, made by them, was refused by the authority on November 15, 2021. Then the said certificate shall be deemed to have expired on 10th of October 2021 itself, and they become ineligible to either receive or utilise the foreign contribution from such date.

FCRA Renewal Application Procedure

In case of an FCRA Registration Certificate that is going to expire and needs to be renewed, the applicant entity should follow the procedure below:
1. Go to the FCRA Portal Home Page by typing the web address http://fcraonline.nic.in or searching for the same on the Google Search Engine. And click on the ‘Where do I need to file?’ available on the Homepage.
2. Now, a page, namely, the ‘FCRA Online Forms’, would appear, and here you should click on the option, ‘FC-3C Application for Renewal of FCRA Registration’.
3. And on this page, you should click on the ‘Click to apply Online’ button given on the screen available.
4. Now you will be redirected to a page where you will have to log in by giving the User ID and Password pertaining to you. Then, the access code provided should be typed as given in the text box for entering it. Then click on the Login Button, which will open your personal account on the FCRA Official Portal.

5. Upon opening or gaining access to the same, there will be a page displayed, on the bottom part of which would be given ‘I am Applying For’, where they choose ‘FCRA Renewal’.
6. Now, a page displaying the form 3C with the details will appear, and on the upper part of the screen, there will be a button named ‘Instructions’, select the same and read carefully.
7. Now complete the filing of the application for renewal in the following way:
– Association Details
– Executive Committee
– EC Details & Others
– Bank Details
– Utilisation Accounts
– Upload Doc
– Final Submit
– Payment.

8. While conducting the final submission, the Place and Date details should be entered, and it should also be noted that after making the final submission, no changes can be made to the application and details entered.

9. You can print the application by clicking on the button named ‘Print Application’ and then pay by clicking on the button ‘Make Online Payment’.

10. A fee of INR 500 should be made for renewing the FCRA Registration Certificate by going to the Payment Gateway powered by the SBI or Axis Bank.

11. Once this has been done you can click on the button namely, ‘Log Out’ such that you have safely logged out.

Documents Required for Renewal

The following documents should be kept ready for renewing the FCRA Registration Certificate:

• The Self-certified Registration Certificate of Association should be in the PDF format with a maximum size of 1 MB.
• Self-certified Memorandum of Association or Trust Deed, which should be in PDF format with a maximum size of 5 MB.
• The FCRA Registration Certificate of Association issued by the MHA should be in the PDF format and with a maximum size of 1 MB.
• The Association must upload an affidavit for each key functionary in PDF format, with a maximum size of 1 MB.
• The Chief Functionary signature, which should be holding the dimensions of width*height pixels as 140*60, and the maximum size of 50 KB.
• The Seal of the Association, which should again be holding dimensions of width*height pixels as 140*60.

FCRA Renewal Status

To check the status of your application for the renewal of the FCRA Registration Certificate, you can follow the procedure given below:

1. Access the official online portal of FCRA by clicking on https://fcraonline.nic.in/home/index.aspx. The page below shall appear.
2. Now, go to the bottom part of the screen, and on the left bottom part, you will see a tab named ‘Track Your Application’. Click on the same.
3. Then you will be redirected to the page below, where you have to select ‘FCRA Renewal Application (FC3) Status’.
4. The screen below will appear, where you should enter your MHA File Number, a 10-digit number, and then enter the Access Code as given in the box. Then click on the button named ‘Submit’.
5. Now, the status of your application will be displayed.

Thus, it can be concluded that the FCRA Registration Certificate renewal or the application for the same should be done within the applicable time. And the same can be easily done online at the lowest cost.
The expiry of the FCRA Registration Certificate will make the entity ineligible to receive or utilise the received foreign contribution.