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Representatives of the Andhra Pradesh and Telangana State Federation of Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Amendment (FCRA) NGOs connected Tuesday (April 7) expressed superior interest implicit definite provisions of the FCRA Bill, 2026, introduced successful the Lok Sabha connected March 25, 2026.
At a property league successful Vijayawada, they expressed apprehensions astir the projected instauration of a designated authorization vested with sweeping powers to instrumentality provisional and, successful galore cases, imperishable power of each overseas contributions and assets created — adjacent partially — from specified funds. This includes schools, hospitals, places of worship, equipment, and infrastructure built implicit decades done the dedicated efforts of non-profit organisations, they said.
They said that the attraction of assets created with a premix of overseas publication and home funds was a substance of sedate worry. “Under the projected provisions, immoderate plus acquired adjacent partially from overseas contribution, shall vest wholly successful the designated authority,” said federation’s convenor Oliver Rayi. He said portion determination is simply a constricted close to question instrumentality of intelligibly identifiable domestic-funded portions, successful signifier astir organisations person inter-mingled resources implicit the years, making segregation highly hard and uncertain. “This risks unjust nonaccomplishment of hard-earned assets that were mostly built with Indian contributions and sweat equity,” helium said.
The members pointed retired that instauration of “deemed cessation” of FCRA registration — triggered automatically if renewal applications are not filed, are rejected, oregon are not processed earlier expiry — allows cancellation of licences without affording organisations a tenable anterior accidental to beryllium heard oregon to rectify insignificant lapses. Once cessation occurs, assets vest instantly successful the Designated Authority, leaving affected entities with lone a post-facto entreaty to the District Judge wrong 90 days, they said, adding that specified a model appears to contradict earthy justness and owed process astatine the captious stage.
The representatives said that if the changes are enacted successful their contiguous form, they could make wide uncertainty, enforce dense compliance burdens, and discourage overseas donors. This would inevitably impact the quality of genuine non-profit organisations to prolong indispensable services successful education, healthcare and payment for the astir marginalised communities crossed Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and the country.
They appealed to the Central authorities to reconsider the provisions relating to plus vesting (especially mixed-fund assets) and deemed cessation of registration and clasp wider consultations with stakeholders from the voluntary assemblage earlier proceeding further, truthful that morganatic charitable enactment is not inadvertently hampered, portion ensuring transparency and accountability.
