The 2020 FCRA amendments, and what’s changed since

The FCRA Amendment Act, 2020 made India’s foreign funding law much stricter: it banned passing foreign contribution to other organisations, cut the share that can go on administration from 50% to 20%, and made every organisation receive foreign money in one account at SBI’s New Delhi Main Branch. Rule changes in 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025 and June 2026 have added to it, and a further Bill is before Parliament.

This guide sets out each change in order, with what it means in practice, for NGO leaders, finance staff and the donors who fund them. It describes the law as in force on 3 October 2026. For an overview of the whole Act, start with what FCRA is.

The timeline at a glance

The 2020 Act, change by change

The FCRA Amendment Act, 2020 (No. 33 of 2020) was passed by both Houses in September 2020 and received assent on 28 September 2020.

The Act also lets the government, after a summary inquiry, restrict a prior-permission holder’s use of its unspent foreign contribution while a fuller inquiry runs. Our guides to using foreign contribution and the FCRA bank accounts explain the transfer ban, the cap and the account in practice.

The Supreme Court’s 2022 judgment

On 8 April 2022, in Noel Harper v. Union of India, the Supreme Court upheld the 2020 amendments to Sections 7, 12(1A), 12A and 17. It read down Section 12A so that an Indian office-bearer may give a passport instead of an Aadhaar number. Lawyers read the judgment as drawing a line between transferring foreign contribution, which is banned, and paying for goods and services an organisation’s own project needs, which is using it.

The 2022 rule changes

The rules notified on 1 July 2022 (G.S.R. 506(E)) eased several requirements:

• Relatives. Anyone receiving foreign contribution from relatives now reports it on Form FC-1 only above ₹10 lakh in a financial year, within three months; the limits had been ₹1 lakh and 30 days.
• Reporting changes. Changes of name, address, aims, bank accounts and key members are reported on the FC-6 forms within 45 days, not 15.
• Website. The quarterly website disclosure of foreign contribution received was dropped; the annual accounts still go on the website.
• Compounding. A new table of compounding amounts covers 12 offences. Accepting foreign contribution without permission, for example, costs ₹1 lakh or 30% of the amount, whichever is higher.
• Revision. Applications to revise an order are made online.

2023 to 2025: more reporting and more documents

• 22 September 2023 (G.S.R. 683(E)). Form FC-4 began asking for tables of movable and immovable assets created from foreign contribution.
• 1 January 2025 (G.S.R. 790(E)). An organisation may carry the unspent part of its administrative allowance into the next financial year, with reasons in FC-4. FC-4 also asks about foreign contribution received as an income-tax refund into a non-FCRA account, and the chartered accountant now reports any violations.
• 26 May 2025 (G.S.R. 342(E)). Applications for registration, prior permission and renewal need fuller documents: three years’ accounts and activity reports, undertakings on publications, a “Not a Newspaper” certificate where relevant, and affidavits on foreign contribution received after expiry. Prior permission also needs a commitment letter matching the form, a project report keeping administration within 20%, and an undertaking to follow the Financial Action Task Force’s good practice guidelines. FC-4 gained revised asset tables and a certificate of receipts and use by project and location.
• 30 September 2025. An MHA notice asked organisations to apply for renewal at least four months before expiry, although the legal window is six months.

The June 2026 rules

The FCRA (Amendment) Rules, 2026 (S.O. 3272(E)) took effect on 22 June 2026, the biggest change since 2020:

Still uncertain, as of October 2026:

• what happens to an organisation that doesn’t file FC-6F by 21 June 2027;
• whether FC-4’s question on ultimate donors reaches back to grants agreed before 22 June 2026;
• how the ₹10 lakh test treats an organisation that falls short for reasons outside its control;
• the current fees for prior permission and renewal;
• and which authority holds the money and assets that vest under Section 15.

Our compliance checklist turns the new duties into dates.

What’s proposed: the 2026 Bill

What it all means in practice

• Design partnerships without re-grants. Each partner needs its own registration or prior permission and its own grant from the donor.
• Budget administration below 20%, and use the carry-forward if a year runs under the cap.
• Keep one route for the money: donors pay the SBI New Delhi account, and nothing else goes into any FCRA account.
• Plan renewal a year ahead, with the ₹10 lakh test in mind, and apply at the six-month mark.
• File FC-6F early, after checking your objects and your work against the schedule of purposes.
• Watch the Bill, but don’t plan around it until it passes. Our guide to suspension and cancellation explains the rules that apply today.

The Academy’s Starting an NGO course covers the 2026 changes in its FCRA lesson.