Fields of work by foreign-funded NGOs outlined, proselytisation excluded
Govt tightens foreign funding rules for foreign funded NGOs NEW DELHI: Eliminating any room for ambiguity in activities permitted in the country with foreign contributions
Govt tightens foreign funding rules for foreign funded NGOs NEW DELHI: Eliminating any room for ambiguity in activities permitted in the country with foreign contributions, the home ministry has notified a schedule of 105 purposes from which NGOs and associations, both ones seeking fresh registration and those already registered under the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA), must choose while declaring their purpose or purposes of registration.The Schedule of ‘purposes’ notified through the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Amendment Rules, 2026 notified on Monday, lists the five primary categorisations — religious, cultural, economic, educational and social — as well as detailed sub-lists of ‘purposes’ approved for each of these categories. Interestingly, the list of 16 purposes categorised under the ‘religious’ cohort explicitly excludes proselytisation, while listing conduct of religious education, moral instruction, discourses and meditation retreats as valid activities by foreign-funded NGOs.NGOs, as per the amended rules, will also be required to declare the states/UTs in which they intend to undertake activities funded by foreign sources. They can specify multiple purposes as well as states and Union territories for their proposed activities, but the Rs 10,000 fee payable at the time of registration will deemed to be for just one state and one purpose.
For any additional purpose or state/UT to which the non-profit seeks to expand the scope of its activities, it must pay Rs 300 extra per purpose and per state/UT.While every application for FCRA registration must specify the purpose and state-UT where the NGO intends to undertake activities, entities already registered under FCRA have been allowed one year from the date of commencement of the amended rules, to intimate to the govt, through a designated form, the purpose or purposes as well as the states or UTs for which they seek to retain their registration.In a separate notification on Monday, the MHA said associations receiving foreign donations will now face a harsh penalty for utilising foreign contributions for purposes other than for which they were received, using them for speculative activities and taking foreign contributions without valid registration or prior permission, including where they fail to submit a hard copy of their registration application to MHA.For these offences, the NGO will have to pay a penalty of Rs 1 lakh or 30% (whichever is higher) of the amount utilised/received for unauthorised purpose, invested in speculative activities, or utilised without due FCRA nod or prior permission and where no hard copy of the application for registration or prior permission is submitted within a month of the online application.
The BriefWire