The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), which is the controlling Ministry, has introduced a tiered fee structure under the amended rules | Photo Credit: Bloomberg

The Centre has notified the amended Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Amendment Rules, 2026, introducing more compliances to restrict engagement of foreigners, except of Indian origin, in key positions, accepting funds only for defined declared purposes, and utilising them in the geographic location in which the organisation is registered.

Other than that, the modified Rules bars seeking or using funds for religious education but allows a list of outlined faith-related activities at the time of registration, including construction, renovation and maintenance of places of worship such as temples, mosques, churches, gurudwaras, monasteries, synagogues and other religious sites. Three purposes — religious education, documentation of faith traditions and preservation of indigenous beliefs — must be carried out “excluding proselytisation” allowed under the Act earlier stated the notification.

The definition of chief functionary has been expanded to include all trustees, governing council members and other senior management, and the amended Rule says that foreigners will “ordinarily not be considered” for the grant of registration or prior permission to receive foreign funds under the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act (FCRA).

It, however, said that the government will have to come up with a separate order to specify cases or circumstance in which foreign national can be accommodated as key functionaries for an association for registration under the FCRA.

The wide ranging amendments seek to bring in more accountability and transparency from the NGOs and associations for accepting funds from abroad.

“Every application for registration shall mention the purpose or purposes for which registration is sought, chosen only from such list of purposes as specified in the Schedule appended to these rules; and the states or Union territories in which the association proposes to undertake the activities,” the notification said.

The details shall be specified on the certificate issued to the NGO, it added.

The schedule also covers cultural, economic, educational and social categories as purposes for accepting donations from outside the country.

The compliance overhaul also demands that NGOs receiving foreign funding must now declare all social media accounts, websites, and publications when applying for registration or renewal under the FCRA.

Existing associations registered before 2026 have been granted a one-year window to submit updated details, specifically declaring their exact operational purposes and geographic areas to the government.

fee structure

The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), which is the controlling Ministry, has introduced a tiered fee structure under the amended rules, levying an additional ₹300 for each subsequent State or objective added to an application.

To weed out inactive organisations, the government has instituted a minimum spending threshold. To qualify for registration renewal or to prevent cancellation, an NGO must have spent at least ₹10 lakh of its foreign contributions on its declared activities over the preceding two financial years.

For NGOs operating under the “Prior Permission” route, subsequent tranches of foreign funding will be tightly regulated. The second and any later instalments will only be released after the organisation proves it has utilised at least 75 per cent of the previous instalment. Furthermore, the government noted that field inquiries will be conducted to physically verify how these funds are being deployed.

The amended framework also targets complex funding routes. If foreign contributions are routed through intermediary remittance vehicles or donor-advised funds, NGOs are now legally obligated to disclose the identity of the ultimate original donors.

Annual returns must now feature a comprehensive “detailed activity report” alongside standard financial statements. Additionally, because FCRA-registered entities are prohibited from producing or broadcasting news and current affairs, organisations must explicitly declare any books, articles, or publications authored by the NGO or its key functionaries.

Published on June 23, 2026