FCRA deadline extended but no relief for MoC

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TIMES NEWS NETWORK

New Delhi:

01.01.2022

The home ministry on Friday extended the validity of Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act (FCRA) licences expiring between September 29, 2020 and March 31, 2022. This move comes as a relief for NGOs and associations that have applied for renewal of their registration under the Act but are still awaiting a decision. The extension has been given until March 31, 2022 or till the disposal of their application, whichever is earlier.

The ministry, however, clarified that the FCRA licences of NGOs whose renewal plea has already been turned down, shall not be eli- gible for the extension. This essentially means that the Missionaries of Charity, an NGO founded by Mother Teresa, became ineligible for receiving any fresh foreign contributions or utilising foreign funds received by it, right from the day — December 25, 2021 — the MHA rejected its FCRA renewal application due to “adverse inputs”.

This is the third time that the MHA has extended the validity of FCRA registration certificates of NGOs who had applied for their renewal after September 29, 2020. The original deadline of May 31, 2021was extended to September 30, 2021. Thereafter, it was further extended to December 31, 2021.