REMINDER – File FCRA FC-4 before 31st December
31st
December 2017 is the last date for organisations Registered or having Prior Permission under the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) 2010 to file
their accounts online in the prescribed Form FC-4 pertaining to receipts and utilisation of funds received from ‘foreign source/s’ during the financial year
2016-17. Filing accounts after the due date will attract penalty/fine for
compounding the offence.
December 2017 is the last date for organisations Registered or having Prior Permission under the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) 2010 to file
their accounts online in the prescribed Form FC-4 pertaining to receipts and utilisation of funds received from ‘foreign source/s’ during the financial year
2016-17. Filing accounts after the due date will attract penalty/fine for
compounding the offence.
Please
note that even if no foreign contribution has been received during the
financial year (1st April 2016 to 31st March 2017), the
accounts must still be filed as a Nil Return. This is mandatory in order to keep your
registration or prior permission alive.
note that even if no foreign contribution has been received during the
financial year (1st April 2016 to 31st March 2017), the
accounts must still be filed as a Nil Return. This is mandatory in order to keep your
registration or prior permission alive.
Darpan UID
Vide
Notification of 4th October 2017 Ministry of Home Affairs has made Darpan UID mandatory for using all FCRA
online services. However, though not officially announced, MHA seem to have relaxed this requirement for filing form FC 4, perhaps
knowing that although many NGOs have successfully updated information on Niti Ayog’s NGO Darpan, due to system related glitches, several NGOs have still not
received their Darpan UID.
Notification of 4th October 2017 Ministry of Home Affairs has made Darpan UID mandatory for using all FCRA
online services. However, though not officially announced, MHA seem to have relaxed this requirement for filing form FC 4, perhaps
knowing that although many NGOs have successfully updated information on Niti Ayog’s NGO Darpan, due to system related glitches, several NGOs have still not
received their Darpan UID.
Darpan
UID number is now something like an NGO Aadhar.
UID number is now something like an NGO Aadhar.
Those
who have yet to file form FC 4 and have still not received the Darpan UID, simply click on the ‘close’
tab at the bottom of the page when there is a pop-up asking for your
association’s Darpan ID. You should
be able to proceed with filing FC 4 for the FY 2016-17 after that.
who have yet to file form FC 4 and have still not received the Darpan UID, simply click on the ‘close’
tab at the bottom of the page when there is a pop-up asking for your
association’s Darpan ID. You should
be able to proceed with filing FC 4 for the FY 2016-17 after that.
FCRA Accounting Requirements
- All FCRA accounts
and records must be kept separately.
- Never mix local
funds with foreign funds.
- Never transfer
funds from your FCRA Bank account to your local or non-FCRA Bank account or the
vice versa.
- NGOs are allowed
to maintain more than one FCRA Utilization Account. However all foreign
contributions must be received only in the designated bank account named in the
FCRA Registration or Prior Permission letter/certificate issued by MHA.
- Any change in the
FCRA Bank account or opening or closing of FCRA Utilization Account must be
recorded online within fifteen days in Form FC 6.
- Fees and
commercial receipts need not be accounted under FCRA even if received from a
foreign source.
- FCRA funds may be
invested in bank fixed deposit schemes but not in any Mutual Fund. Interest
from such investment must be accounted for under FCRA.
- Income arising
from assets created out of FCRA funds must also be accounted for under FCRA.
- If using Tally,
we recommend opening separate companies for FCRA and non-FCRA funds.
- If donors insist
on separate accounting for their donation/grant, please create separate groups
within the Tally Company Account or Cost Centres to track each donor’s fund.
- Since MHA has not
specified any particular system of accounting, NGOs may follow either cash or
accrual system.
- Most NGOs
(particularly those registered under Section 8 of the Indian Companies Act as
also those having income generating activities) follow accrual system.
- Please upload FC
4 only when you are one hundred per cent certain. Once filed, there is no
provision for filing rectification or for amending facts or figures.