Prior Permission Under Fcra Act

i. The organization has obtained permanent registration from the FCRA department, or ii. The association or the organization obtained prior permission from the FCRA department on case to case basis b. The relevant circumstances- The reference of the term ‘prior permission’ is made in sections 5 and 6 of the FCRA. Prior permission is given on a case to case basis and separate permission would be necessary for any subsequent receipt and separate transactions. Generally, prior permission will be required under the following circumstances:

i. The organization does not have a permanent FCRA registration number. ii. The FCRA registration number has been canceled by the Government. iii. The association is instructed by the Central Government to take prior permission under the provisions of section 10 where power has been provided to prohibit any organization from receiving foreign funds. iv. The FCRA number is suspended due to a violation of the provisions and conditions specified under the FCRA. v. The organization is of political nature not being a political party. vi. Any person resident in India or any citizen of India resident outside India, receiving foreign funds on behalf of an organization of political nature.

The forms can be obtained, free of cost, from the below-mentioned address. The forms are also available on the Ministry of Home affairs’ e. Where should the application be sent? The application for seeking prior permission or registration are to be sent by registered post to the Secretary, Ministry of Home Affairs, FCRA Division LOK Nayak Bhavan, Khan Market, New Delhi-110003. f. How much time is taken to dispose of the application? Applications for registration are normally disposed of within six months. Applications seeking prior permission are disposed of within 90/120 days.

a. All associations permitted to accept foreign contributions are required to submit the annual returns, duly certified by a Chartered Accountant, giving details of the receipts and purpose-wide utilization of foreign contribution. The return has to be filed for every year (1st April to 31st March) within a period of four months from the closure of the year i.e. by 31st July of each year. b. The return has to be submitted, in duplicate, in form FC-3. It has to be accompanied by the balance sheet & statement of receipt and payments, duly certified by a Chartered Accountant, also in duplicate. c. The following documents are to be attached along with Form No. FC-3: i. Copy of Balance Sheet. ii. Copy of Receipts and Payments Account. iii. Copy of the list of contributions received in kind.