6,000 NGOs asked to file expenditure records or lose license

The show cause notices were issued on July 8 and the NGOs have time till July 23 to give their reply.

New Delhi, July 10: Nearly 6,000 non-government organisations (NGOs) may lose their license to receive foreign donations with the home ministry serving them show cause notices for not filing their annual income and expenditure records to the government.

The show cause notices were issued on July 8 and the NGOs have time till July 23 to give their reply. Failing which, it will be presumed that they have nothing to say and action as proposed will be taken by the home ministry as per FCRA.

These NGOs, registered under the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act, or FCRA, that allows them to receive foreign donations, were told to submit their annual returns for five years -- 2010-11 to 2014-15, reports PTI.

All eligible NGOs should receive donations from abroad in a single designated bank account, according to rules. Voluntary organisations have to be registered under the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act or FCRA to receive financial aid from abroad.

The MHA in May had given 18,523 NGOs a one-time opportunity to furnish details of their income sourced from abroad. MHA had asked these agencies to declare income and its source from abroad by June 14.

There are 20,000 NGOs registered under the FCRA.

In November 2016, the government had directed more than 11,000 NGOs to file applications for renewal of registration by February 28, 2017.

Of the above, 3,500 NGOs filed applications for renewal till February 2017. Registration of more than 7,000 NGOs were deemed expired due to non-filing of renewal applications.

OneIndia News (with PTI inputs)