FCRA – foreign contribution regulation act Registration and eligibility criteria

by varun · Published November 24, 2020 · Updated December 24, 2021

FCRA stands for foreign contribution regulation act. FCRA was enacted by parliament and is mandatory requirement to receive any foreign contribution in India. FCRA regulations are applicable to any registered trust, society, institution or NGOs who wants to receive any foreign grant or fund. Primary objective of FCRA rules is to legalize and monitor foreign contribution made in the country.

Under foreign contribution regulation act 2010, It is mandatory to have a FCRA registration certificate. In this article, we would discuss eligibility criteria for obtaining a FCRA registration number. FCRA registration number is a unique number provided with each FCRA registration certificate. Before, going ahead with minimum eligibility criteria, it is very importnat to know different types of registration under FCRA. Under foreign contribution regulation act 2010, there are two types of FCRA registrations-

Normal registration
Prior permission registration

Let us look into FCRA rules and FCRA regulations for minimum eligibility under these two types of registration mentioned above-

Normal Registration – Following conditions need to be fulfilled under FCRA rules to get a normal registration-

It is mandatory under FCRA rules that applicant must be registered under the Societies Registration Act, 1860
or the Indian Trusts Act, 1882 or registered as Section 8 Company as per the Companies Act, 2013 or any such Act as may be required.
FCRA regulations states that applicant must have made reasonable contribution under hosen field for the benefit of society.
Must have spent a minimum of Rs. 10,00,000 in the last 3 years towards achieving its objectives
Foreign contribution regulation act 2010 makes it mandatory to submit last 3 years audited financial statement of the firm.

Prior Permission – FCRA regulations have separate provision for newly registered entities who want to receive foreign funding from abroad. Prior permission is granted for a specific donor and user for a specific project.

It is mandatory under FCRA rules that applicant must be registered under the Societies Registration Act, 1860
or the Indian Trusts Act, 1882 or registered as Section 8 Company as per the Companies Act, 2013 or any such Act as may be required.
For obtaining a FCRA registration number, firm needs to submit specific commitment letter from the donor to Ministry of Home affairs which contains amount of donation to be given and purpose for donation.
It is advisable under FCRA rules to not have common members in donor and home organizations. FCRA regulations states that chief of Indian firm cant be a member of foreign donor firm. Moreover, At least 51% members of Indian firm cant be member of foreign donor firm.

To apply for FCRA registration, organization can visit FCRA website. FCRA website contains all required information like FCRA application links and forms to be filled for obtaining a FCRA registration number. For further reading on different types of trade licenses required in India, you can visit our website’s other section.