The State Bank of India (SBI) has opened 13729 Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act (FCRA) accounts to date. This branch was designated to open FCRA accounts by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) in October 2020.
Out of the total 22598 active FCRA Associations, 17611 entities (NGOs and Associations) approached SBI for the opening of FCRA Accounts. The bank has already opened accounts of 78 per cent of the applicants. The rest of the accounts shall also be initiated once their pending documentation formalities are completed.
SBI in coordination with MHA and Department of Financial Services (DFs) also devised a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) to open and operate the FCRA Account, which is available on the bank’s website and FCRAONLINE - an e-governance initiative by MHA. Further, the NDMB of SBI conducted as many as 28 webinars to prepare and guide FCRA Associations about the opening of FCRA Accounts.
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All the SBI branches are authorized to receive Account Opening Application form FCRA Associations. The branches submit those forms and documents to the NDMB through email. In many cases, the documentation was conducted in multiple branches to enable signatories at different locations. With SBI’s robust network of branches, functionaries of FCRA Associations can process their account opening formalities from their nearest SBI branch without having to visit the NDMB.
The Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2020 was introduced in Lok Sabha on September 20, 2020. The Act regulates the acceptance and utilisation of foreign contributions by individuals, associations, and companies. Also a new provision - that makes it mandatory for all non-government organisations and associations to receive foreign funds in a designated bank account (SBI’s New Delhi Main Branch) - was inserted.
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