Section XI

Renewal Of Registration

Section XI

What are the relevant provisions of the Act/Rules regarding renewal of registration?

Answer: Section 16 of FCRA, 2010 is reproduced below‒

“(1) Every person who has been granted a certificate under section 12 shall have such certificate renewed within six months before the expiry of the period of the certificate.

 

            Provided that the Central Government may, before renewing the certificate, make such inquiry, as it deems fit, to satisfy itself that such person has fulfilled all conditions specified in sub-section (4) of section 12.

 

(2)  The application for renewal of the certificate shall be made to the Central Government in such form and manner and accompanied by such fee as may be prescribed.

 

(3)  The Central Government shall renew the certificate, ordinarily within ninety days from the date of receipt of application for renewal of certificate subject to such terms and conditions as it may deem fit and grant a certificate of renewal for a period of five years:

 

Provided that in case the Central Government does not renew the certificate within the said period of ninety days, it shall communicate the reasons therefor to the applicant:

 

Provided further that the Central Government may refuse to renew the certificate in case where a person has violated any of the provisions of this Act or rules made thereunder.”

Rule 12 of FCRR, 2011 is also reproduced below‒

“(1)   Every certificate of registration issued to a person shall be liable to be renewed after the expiry of five years from the date of its issue on proper application.

 

(2)   An application for renewal of the certificate of registration shall be made to the Central Government in electronic form in Form FC-3C accompanied with an affidavit executed by each office bearer, key functionary and member in Proforma ‘AA’ appended to these rules within six months before the date of expiry of the certificate of registration.

 

(2A)     Every person seeking renewal of the certificate of registration under section 16 of the Act shall open an FCRA Account and mention details of the account in his application for renewal of registration.

 

(2B)     Every application for renewal of the certificate of registration made under sub-rule (2) before commencement of these rules, but not disposed of, shall be considered after furnishing the details of FCRA Account.

 

3)  Omitted.

 

(4)  An application made for renewal of the certificate of registration shall be accompanied by a fee of rupees five thousand only, which shall be paid through payment gateway specified by the Central Government.

 

(5)  No person whose certificate of registration has ceased to exist shall either receive or utilise the foreign contribution until the certificate is renewed.

 

(6)  If no application for renewal of registration is received or the application is not accompanied by requisite fee before the expiry of the validity of the certificate of registration, the validity of the certificate of registration shall be deemed to have ceased from the date of completion of the period of five years from the date of the grant of certificate of registration.

 

Note 1: A certificate of registration granted on the 1^st January, 2012 shall be valid till the 31^st December, 2016 and a request for renewal of certificate of registration shall be submitted in electronic form accompanied by requisite fee after the 30^th June, 2016 and within the 31^st December, 2016.

 

Note 2: If no application is received or is not accompanied by renewal fee, the validity of the certificate of registration issued on the 1^st January 2012 shall be deemed to have ceased after the 31^st December, 2016 and the applicant shall neither receive nor utilise the foreign contribution until the certificate of registration is renewed.

 

(6A)     The amount of foreign contribution lying unutilised in the FCRA Account and utilisation account of a person whose certificate of registration is deemed to have ceased under sub-rule (6) and assets, if any, created out of the foreign contribution, shall vest with the prescribed authority under the Act until the certificate is renewed or fresh registration is granted by the Central Government.

 

(7)   If the validity of the certificate of registration of a person has ceased in accordance with the provisions of these rules, a fresh request for the grant of a certificate of registration may be made by the person to the Central Government as per the provisions of rule 9.

 

(8)   In case a person provides sufficient grounds, in writing, explaining the reasons for not submitting the certificate of registration for renewal within the stipulated time, his application may be accepted for consideration along with the requisite fee and with late fee of Rs. 5000/- (Five Thousand Rupees only), but not later than one year after the expiry of the original certificate of registration.”

What is the procedure for renewal of registration?

Answer: In terms of Rule 12 (2) of FCRR, 2011, an Association registered under FCRA should apply online in Form FC-3C accompanied with an affidavit executed by each office bearer, key functionary and member in Proforma ‘AA’ within six months before the date of expiry of the certificate of registration and following details are to be furnished in Form FC-3C:

(i)        DARPAN ID of the Association;

(ii)       Name & full address of the Association with its telephone no. (with STD Code), e-mail address, official website address, if any, telephone (with STD Code) & mobile nos. of the Chief Functionary;

(iii)      Registration number of the Association under an existing statute    including the number, date & place of such registration;

(iv)      PAN of the Association;

(v)       FCRA registration number and date;

(vi)      Amount of FC received during the last three financial years;

(vii)     Nature of the Association: [(a) religious, (b) cultural, (c) economic, (d) educational, (e) social).  [Note: A religious Association has to state whether (a) Hindu, (b) Sikh, (c) Muslim, (d) Christian, (e) Buddhist, (f) Others];

(viii)    Main aim(s) and object(s) of the Association;

**(ix)   Details in respect of all office bearers or Directors or other key functionaries viz., name, name of father/spouse, nationality, Aadhaar number, PAN, occupation, designation in the Association, inter-personal relationship with other members of the executive council/governing body/office bearers and contact details including office address, residential address, e-mail address, landline & mobile numbers;

**(x)    If any of the above is a foreign national including PIO/OCI card holder, his/her name, date & place of birth, passport number, address in the foreign country, whether he/she is a person of Indian origin, his/her PIO/OCI card number, if any, if he/she is a resident in India, the date from which he/she is residing in India;

(xi)      Details of changed key functionaries on account of addition/ deletion/ removal/resignation/death etc. vis-a-vis the original application for registration;

(xii)     Details of designated FCRA Account in the State Bank of India, New Delhi Main Branch, 11, Sansad Marg, New Delhi – 110001 (SBI, NDMB) for receipt of foreign contribution including date of account opening;

(xiii)    Details of ‘another FCRA Account, if any, in any other scheduled commercial bank such as, name of the bank, address of the branch with PIN code, e-mail address, IFSC Code, Account Number and date of account opening;

(xiv)    Details of all Utilisation Accounts, if any, for utilisation of foreign contribution such as, name of the bank, address of the branch with PIN code, e-mail address, IFSC Code, Account Number and date of account opening.

Therefore, all these information should be kept handy before one starts filling in the online application form. A fee of Rs. 5000/- is to be paid online through payment gateway.

**Note: Please note that the details of only those existing members of EC/GB or office bearers mentioned in the application for Registration or previous Renewal, if applicable, as well as the details of the members who might have been added thereafter with due intimation to MHA, are to be given for the purpose of point nos. (ix) and (x) above.

What are the documents to be uploaded with the online application for renewal of registration (Form FC-3C)?

Answer: The following documents are to be uploaded with the online application:

(i)        Self-certified scanned copy of Registration certificate/Trust Deed etc. of the Association (PDF format, Size-1 MB);

(ii)       Self-certified scanned copy of relevant pages of Memorandum of Association/Articles of Association/Trust Deed showing aims & objects of the Association (PDF format, Size-5 MB);

(iii)      Self-certified scanned copy of FCRA Registration certificate of the Association issued by MHA (PDF format, Size-1 MB);

***(iv) Affidavit in Proforma ‘AA’ executed by each office bearer, key functionary and member individually on non-judicial stamp paper of Rs.10/- and attested by a Notary Public or 1^st Class Magistrate.

(v)       Scanned image of signature of the Association’s Chief Functionary    [JPG/JPEG format / Dimension – 140(Width) * 60(Height) Pixel & Size-50 KB (Max.)]; and

(vi)      Image of the Seal of the Association   [JPG/JPEG format / Dimension– 140(Width) * 60(Height) Pixel & Size-100 KB (Max.)].

Therefore, all the above documents should be prepared and saved in the computer before one starts filling in the online application form.

***Note: Please note that the prescribed Affidavit in Proforma ‘AA’ is to be executed individually by each person who are mentioned in point nos. (ix) and (x) of the Renewal application and uploaded. Please refer to the Note below the previous Question. Proforma ‘AA’ is also available in MHA’s website.

What will happen in the case of non-submission or delayed submission of application for renewal?

Answer: The following will happen in such cases:

(A) No application for renewal before the date of expiry of the certificate of registration:

(i) Registration shall be deemed to have ceased from the date of completion of the period of 5 years from the date of the grant of registration and the Association concerned shall neither receive nor utilise the FC until the certificate of registration is renewed. [Rule 12(6) of FCRR, 2011]  

(ii) Amount of FC lying unutilised in the FCRA Account and Utilisation Account(s) and assets, if any, created out of the FC of the Association concerned whose certificate of registration is deemed to have ceased under Rule 12(6), shall vest with the prescribed authority under the Act until the registration is renewed or fresh registration is granted by MHA. [Rule 12(6A) of FCRR, 2011]

(iii) Association concerned whose registration is deemed to have ceased, if it so desires, may submit a fresh request for the grant of registration as per the provisions of Rule 9 of FCRR, 2011. [Rule 12(7) of FCRR, 2011]

(B) Delayed submission of application for renewal:

(i) Consequences will be the same as indicated at (A) above.

(ii) In case a person provides sufficient grounds, in writing, explaining the reasons for not submitting the certificate of registration for renewal within the stipulated time, its application may be accepted for consideration along with the requisite fee plus a late fee of Rs. 5000/-, but not later than one year after the expiry of the original certificate of registration. [Rule 12 (8) of FCRR, 2011]

What happens to those cases of pending applications for renewal which have been properly filed along with the prescribed fees but MHA’s approval is awaited?

Answer: Section 16(3) of FCRA, 2010 prescribes that MHA shall renew the certificate, ordinarily within ninety days from the date of receipt of application for renewal of certificate subject to such terms and conditions as it may deem fit and grant a certificate of renewal for a period of five years.  However, in practice, MHA has not been able to dispose of the renewal applications within the 90 days. Since January 2021, MHA has so far, on 10 occasions, has extended the date of validity of registration of the FCRA registered entities where renewal applications could not be disposed of. As per MHA, the first 3 extensions were necessitated in public interest to ensure smooth transition to the amended FCRA regime following the amendment of FCRA, 2010 in September 2020 and thereafter keeping in view the exigencies arising due to the COVID 19 situation. However, the last 7 extensions were just because of MHA’s inability to deal with the pending cases due to non-receipt of intelligence reports. Therefore, it appears that MHA would follow the same practice of extending the date of validity of FCRA registration of the entities where renewal applications would remain pending disposal. It may be noted that earlier, i.e., before MHA started issuing Public Notices for extending the validity of FCRA registrations, as and when a renewal application was approved by MHA at a much later date from the date of expiry of the original registration, the renewal was granted for another period of 5 years with effect from the next date when the original registration expired. However, MHA has changed that practice and nowadays, the renewal is granted for a period of 5 years from the next date up to which validity of registration was extended for the pending applications.

Could the Associations receive any FC or utilise their FC balance lying in bank accounts after expiry of registration when their applications for renewal are pending? 

Answer: Since MHA is following the practice of extending the date of validity of FCRA registration of Associations where renewal applications are pending disposal, such Associations would be able to receive FC and also utilise the same till the period up to which the extension is given or till the date of disposal of renewal application, whichever is earlier. Please refer to the answers to the previous and next questions.

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What is the process followed by MHA for considering an application for renewal of registration?

and

What would be the consequences where MHA refuses to renew the registration and what should be done in such cases?

Answer: Applicant Associations, who have been regularly filing their mandatory annual returns within the due date, complied with all the provisions of the Act/Rules, and against whom there had been no complaint or adverse report from any quarter, would be given renewal.  It is of utmost importance that the provisions of FCRA, 2010 and FCRR, 2011 are followed scrupulously and the mandatory annual returns are submitted without fail within the due date so that there is no issue regarding renewal of registration when the time comes.

It is suggested that the status of the pending renewal application should be checked regularly (if possible, daily) on the portal of FCRA (https://fcraonline.nic.in) to find out if MHA has raised any query or has sought any clarification/document in respect of the application.

It should be noted that in terms of the proviso to Section 16(1) of FCRA, 2010, renewal of registration is subject to inquiry by MHA to confirm that the Association concerned has fulfilled all the conditions specified in Section 12(4) of the Act. MHA will deny to grant renewal if there is any violation of the provisions of FCRA/FCRR and directives thereunder and may also refuse to grant renewal for failure to reply to any query raised (in its portal) or to provide the required clarification/document within the given time (normally, 15 days). Please note that MHA conveys such orders of refusal/denial to renew the registration through email and also updates the status in its portal accordingly. In such cases, MHA also freezes all the FCRA related bank account(s) of the concerned Association and conveys its order to those banks.  The refusal would imply that the concerned Association will not have valid FCRA registration and would not be able to receive any FC and utilise the FC lying unutilised in the FCRA Account and Utilisation Account(s) in its FCRA related bank accounts from the date of such order of MHA through email.

The status in FCRA’s portal for looking into the ‘Validity Verification of FCRA Certificate’ may show that the Registration Certificate is deemed to have ceased [even without referring to Rule 12(6)] and that the Association’s FCRA certificate of registration has expired. In that case also, the Association would not be able to either receive or utilise the foreign contribution until the certificate is renewed.

If MHA also conveys that the registration of the Association is deemed to have ceased under Rule 12(6) then in terms of Rule 12 (6A), the amount of FC lying unutilised in the FCRA Account and Utilisation Account(s) and assets, if any, created out of the FC of the Association concerned shall vest with the prescribed authority under the Act until the registration is renewed or fresh registration is granted by MHA.

It may be noted that in terms of Rule 12(7) if the validity of the FCRA registration of an Association has ceased in accordance with the provisions of Rule 12, the concerned Association has the option to submit a fresh request for the grant of FCRA registration as per the provisions of rule 9. **

However, in such cases where MHA denies/refuses to grant renewal of registration, the correct course of action would be to first seek revision of the order in terms of Section 32 of FCRA, 2010. As per MHA’s Order dated 12/08/2022 any Association registered under FCRA 2010 and rules made thereunder and is aggrieved of an order of the Central Government may prefer a revision application in terms of section 32 of the FCRA, 2010 and Rule 20 of FCRR, 2011. The Association that wants to file an application under section 32 of FCRA, 2010 for revision of an order passed by the competent authority, i.e., MHA (FCRA Wing), may upload a scanned copy of its application on the FCRA web portal (https://fcraonline.nic.in) under main heading “Services under FCRA”, Sub heading “Revision Application against Section 32, FCRA 2010”. There is no format for the revision application and a scanned copy of the duly signed application giving justification for revision of the order must be submitted online only along with the supporting documents. A fee of Rs.3000/- is to be paid through the payment gateway specified by MHA while submitting the online application. Although a scanned copy of the duly signed application in plain paper is acceptable, it is suggested that the application should be on the letter head of the Association concerned. According to Section 32(3) of FCRA, 2010, such application for revision of an order must be made within 1 year from the date on which the order in question was communicated to the person or the date on which he otherwise came to know of it, whichever is earlier; provided that the Central Government may, if it is satisfied that such person was prevented by sufficient cause from making the application within that period, admit an application made after the expiry of that period.

It is suggested that the option available under Rule 12(7) to submit a fresh request in Form FC-3A for the grant of FCRA registration as per the provisions of rule 9 should be exercised if MHA refuses/denies to consider the application for revision of the order in terms of Section 32 of FCRA, 2010.

It is further suggested that both the options, i.e., (i) submission of a revision application under Section 32 of FCRA, 2010 for reconsidering the order refusing renewal of registration or, (ii) submission of a fresh request in Form FC-3A for the grant of FCRA registration as per Rule 9 of FCRR, 2011, should not be exercised simultaneously as such actions would create confusion. Moreover, it should be kept in mind that obtaining fresh FCRA registration is a long-drawn process and takes considerable time.

**Note: It should be noted that the consequences of an Association’s registration being declared as deemed to have ceased under Rule 12(6) and its registration being cancelled under Section 14 of the Act are almost similar. The only difference is that in the first scenario, the Association has an option to immediately submit a fresh request for the grant of registration as per the provisions of rule 9 whereas in the second scenario, the concerned Association shall not be eligible for registration/PP for a period of 3 years from the date of cancellation of registration. However, in both the cases, the FC and assets created out of the FC in the custody of the Association shall vest in such authority as may be prescribed.  Rule 15 of FCRR, 2011 prescribes that, “If the certificate of registration of a person who has opened an FCRA Account under section 17 is cancelled, the amount of foreign contribution lying unutilised in that Account shall vest with the prescribed authority under the Act.” In terms of the Gazette Notification [S.O. 5650(E), dated the 5th November 2018], the Central Government has prescribed that the Additional Chief Secretary or Principal Secretary (Home) of the concerned State Government or Union territory (where the assets of the person whose registration has been cancelled under section 14 of the said Act are physically located), as competent authority for the purposes of section 15 of the Act. Although the prescribed authority for the purpose of Rule 12(6A) has not yet been notified, it may be presumed that the authority prescribed under the aforesaid Gazette Notifications for the purposes of section 15 of the Act shall also be the competent authority for the purposes of Rule 12(6A). In this context, answers to Q. 257 and Q. 259 regarding cancellation of FCRA registration may please be perused.

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