Chartered Accountant · ICAI M.No. 153926 · FRN 136869W
The single entry point
Following the FCRA amendments, every organisation registered or permitted under FCRA must receive all foreign contributions into one designated ‘FCRA Account’ opened at the State Bank of India, New Delhi Main Branch. No foreign donation may be received into any other account. The aim is centralised monitoring of all inbound foreign funding.
How funds then flow
After the foreign contribution lands in the SBI Delhi FCRA account, the NGO can transfer it to other FCRA utilisation accounts (often in its own city) to actually spend it — but the first point of receipt is fixed. The NGO must also keep separate FCRA books and file annual FCRA returns. FCRA compliance is strict and changes — confirm the current rules.
A worked example
Example: an NGO receiving a grant from a foreign foundation must have the funds credited to its SBI New Delhi Main Branch FCRA account; it then moves the money to its local utilisation account to run programmes, recording everything in its FCRA books. Receiving foreign money into the wrong account is a serious FCRA violation. Our team can guide FCRA compliance for your NGO.