FCRA Registration

Foreign Contribution Regulation Act or FCRA is Law regulating the foreign contributions or receipt from outside India. FCRA came into force to make sure that the foreign contribution does not affect the sovereignty & political integrity of India. NGOs, Charitable institution receiving donations from Foreign Country or foreign source are required to get the registration under Foreign Contribution Regulation Act. FCRA Department comes under the Ministry of Home Affairs and the registration is get through the prior permission method. NGOs cannot take the foreign contribution directly from the foreign country so they require to get registration under FCRA.

FCRA registration is valid 5 years from the date of approval. After the expiry of the tenure, the registered entity has to apply for the renewal at least 6 months before the registration is lapsed, if the entity is working on ongoing projects then the renewal must be applied for at least 12 months before the registration gets lapsed.

After the FCRA registration, the institution is required to file online Annual Return in Form FC-4. The due date of filing this form is 31st December of every year i.e. within 9 months of the closing of every financial year. The authority can cancel the registration of an institution if it doesn’t comply with the compliances under the act or any other laws, and if the NGO is not utilized for the purpose stated in the FCRA registration application.