Indians can now receive remittences worth Rs 10 lakh (one million) annually from relatives residing overseas without notifying the authorities, according to the new Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Amendment Rules, 2022 by India’s Ministry of Home Affairs. Previously, the amount permitted was limited to Rs 1 lakh (one hundred thousand) annually.
As per Rule 6 of the FCRA Rules 2011, ‘any person receiving foreign contribution in excess of one lakh rupees or equivalent thereto in a financial year from any of their relatives shall inform the Central Government in Form FC-1 within thirty days from the date of receipt of such contribution.’
On July 1, the Ministry of Home Affairs notified the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Amendment Rules 2022. The amendment has increased the amount of “one lakh” mentioned in Rule 6 as “ten lakh” and has increased the time for declaration as thirty days.
Contributions made by NRIs ( Non-Resident Indian), from their personal savings, through the normal banking channels, is not treated as foreign contribution.
Also, making changes in rule 9, which deals with the application to obtain ‘registration’ or ‘prior permission’ under the FCRA to receive funds, the amended rules have given individuals and organisations or NGOs 45 days to inform the government about bank account (s) that are to be used for the utilisation of such funds. This time limit was 30 days earlier.
The amendment has also ‘omitted’ provision ‘b’ in rule 13, which dealt with declaring foreign funds including details of donors, amount received, and date of receipt, etc. every quarter on its website.
Download the notification for Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Amendment Rules 2022.
