The Union Home Ministry has amended the rules for NGOs receiving foreign funds, allowing a range of religious activities while excluding proselytization from the categories eligible for registration under the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA). A Gazette notification of the new rules was issued late on Monday.
The amended rules state that any association that includes foreign nationals, other than those of Indian origin, as key employees “will not ordinarily be considered” for registration or prior permission to receive foreign funds. They have an exception that allows the central government to determine, through an order, the cases or circumstances under which foreign nationals may be permitted to be key employees of an association to register or obtain prior authorization under the FCRA.
The government has issued a series of amendments to tighten the FCRA rules, 2011, for NGOs and associations in India on receiving and using foreign funds.
The amendments have broadened the definition of “key employee in relation to a person other than an individual” to include a wider range of roles, including directors of a company, partners in companies, trustees, kartas of the undivided family, and anyone who has control over the management of the association.
The government has introduced a new provision, whereby NGOs seeking to register for foreign funds must precisely specify the purpose and state or federal territory of their operations.
“Every application for registration shall state the purpose or purposes for which registration is sought, selected only from the list of purposes specified in the schedule annexed to these rules; and the states or union territories in which the association proposes to carry out activities,” the notification issued on Monday said.
She said that the details will be specified in the certificate issued to the non-governmental organization. Applicants must now choose their activities from the “schedule” stipulated in the rules, which covers religious, cultural, economic, educational and social categories as purposes, the notification said.
Within religious purposes, activities range from construction, renovation and maintenance of religious places to religious education and promotion of devotional music, among others.
The rules specify religious education, documentation of religious traditions, and preservation of indigenous beliefs, “with the exception of proselytization.”
This status has also been mentioned in “documenting, preserving and reviving indigenous and tribal religious practices, rituals and worship systems” and “conducting religious education, moral education, satsang, discourses and meditation retreats”.
The rules give one year to all associations registered before 2026 to disclose their specific purposes and the statuses they want to retain in their registration.
The government has introduced the fee structure through the revised rules. Additional $You will be charged 300 Egyptian pounds for each additional case or item added to the application.
To prevent inactive NGOs from holding licences, the government introduced a minimum spend of Rs $10,000 in foreign contributions on selected activities during the past two fiscal years.
For an NGO to renew its registration or avoid cancellation, it must have spent the foreign contribution amount within the last two years on its chosen activities.
The rules stipulate that for NGOs receiving foreign funds for a specific purpose under “prior authorization”, the second tranche or any subsequent tranche of funds will be released only after they have used at least 75% of the previous tranche.
To verify use, the government will conduct field investigations.
NGOs receiving foreign funds must now provide details of their social media accounts in applications for registration or renewal under the FCRA. If the funds come through intermediate funds transfers or “donor-advanced funds,” the NGO must disclose the ultimate donor (source of funds) in its applications. After that, annual returns must now include a Detailed Activity Report along with the financial statements.
NGOs will also have to declare whether they publish any books or articles, as they are prohibited from producing or broadcasting “news or current affairs.”
The FCRA of 2010, which came into force in 2011, regulates the acceptance and use of foreign contributions and foreign hospitality to ensure that such flows do not adversely affect the national interest, public order or national security. The law was amended in 2016, 2018 and 2020.
In March, the government introduced the Foreign Contributions (Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2026, introducing changes allowing the government to appoint a “designated authority” to take over, manage or sell assets created from foreign funds of an NGO whose license under the FCRA has been revoked, suspended or not renewed. The bill is likely to be taken up in the monsoon session.
