Cabinet clears FCRA amendment bill: Govt to take control of assets of NGOs with cancelled licences
The Union Cabinet has approved a bill to amend the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act, 2010, to better safeguard national interest. The proposed amendments will create a statutory mechanism to manage assets of organizations whose FCRA licenses ...
The move addresses long-pending concerns over the fate of assets of organisations whose licences have been cancelled, ensuring such resources are neither misused nor left unaccounted for, sources said.
New Delhi: The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved a bill to amend the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act, 2010, to safeguard national and public interest by enabling the Centre to prescribe timelines for receipt and utilisation of foreign funds. A statutory mechanism will be created to take over and manage assets of organisations whose FCRA licences have been cancelled, sources said.
The proposed Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2026, seeks to plug gaps in the existing framework governing the acceptance and utilisation of foreign contributions, with a sharper focus on transparency, accountability and legal certainty.
A key feature of the bill is a comprehensive, time-bound mechanism to deal specifically with assets created out of foreign contributions in cases where an association's FCRA registration has been suspended, cancelled, surrendered or has otherwise ceased. It empowers a designated authority to take over the vested assets, maintain records and inventories, safeguard their condition and ensure their lawful utilisation or disposal.
The move addresses long-pending concerns over the fate of assets of organisations whose licences have been cancelled, ensuring such resources are neither misused nor left unaccounted for, sources said.
The amendments also introduce a new Section 14B to explicitly provide for "deemed cessation" of FCRA registration upon expiry, non-renewal or refusal of renewal by the Centre, removing ambiguities in the current law.
ADVERTISEMENT
The bill seeks to streamline the permission regime by allowing the government to prescribe the validity period within which foreign contribution may be received and the timelines for its utilisation.
To rationalise enforcement, the proposed law reduces the maximum imprisonment for unauthorised receipt of foreign contribution to one year. It also mandates approval of the central government before initiating any criminal investigation under the Act.
India has around 16,000 FCRA-registered associations receiving nearly ₹22,000 crore annually. Sources said the amendments aim to strengthen oversight of foreign inflows while ensuring such contributions do not adversely impact national security or public interest.
