Over 20,000 FCRA licences cancelled till date, most from Tamil Nadu | Data Premium

FCRA Licence: Over 20,000 Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) licences cancelled till date, most from Tamil Nadu

Last week, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) registered a case of alleged Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act (FCRA) violation against human rights activist Harsh Mander and his NGO Centre for Equity Studies (CES). FIRs were registered based on a complaint from the Union Home Ministry. The agency allegedly found that the NGO transferred some amount to certain individuals from the FCRA account, apart from salary/wages/remuneration, which is a violation of the Act.

The action against CES is the latest incident in a series of measures against civil society and NGOs. Last month, FCRA registrations of Delhi-based Centre for Policy Research (CPR) and World Vision India were cancelled. In 2023, the Home Ministry had recommended a CBI investigation into Oxfam India for allegedly violating FCRA provisions. CBI also conducted searches and registered a case against news portal NewsClick for violating FCRA in December 2023.

The government uses FCRA to regulate the foreign funds received by NGOs “to prevent any possible diversion for activities detrimental to national interest.” Organisations have to compulsorily register under the Act if they wish to receive foreign funding. Over 20,000 FCRA licences have been cancelled till February 4.

Chart 1 shows that cancellations have spiked in certain years — 2012, 2015, 2017, 2019. Especially in 2015, over 10,000 cancellations were recorded. In other years, cancellations rarely crossed into the double digits. It is important to note that not all cancellations were due to violations, as many were also done to remove multiple registrations for the same organisation.

Chart 1 shows the year-wise break-up of cancellations.

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Cancellation of licences is not the only way in which organisations are denied foreign money. Changes in the law meant that FCRA registration is not permanent and needs renewal once in five years. Data from Lok Sabha show that 783 renewal applications were denied between 2019 and 2021.