CAF donations into India

New legislation relating to overseas donations was recently passed in India and has required CAF to make some urgent changes.

The Foreign Contribution (Regulations) Act 2020 (FCRA) includes amendments which place firm limits on the ability of Indian non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to grant any money received from overseas donors on to other organisations or individuals.

Additionally, new banking requirements have also been placed on Indian NGOs which may limit some charities’ ability to access funds.

Unfortunately, CAF and many of our colleagues in the UK and internationally who help donors to support causes and charities based in India, rely on valuable partnership arrangement with Indian NGOs in order to ensure donations reach grassroots charities and local groups.

We are working with our partners at CAF India, CAF America, CAF Canada and elsewhere to fully determine what this means for our work in supporting charities in India with donations made by individuals and businesses in the UK.

For the time being, we are still able to grant money directly to FCRA registered charities operating in India, providing that they do not re-grant these funds to any other organisation. Owing to new safeguarding procedures that we have put in place as a result of changing banking requirements for charities in India, these payments will take longer to process for the foreseeable future.

All grants made to NGOs in India that are involved in onward granting have, regretfully, been paused.

We are taking these steps in order to not only ensure that CAF is fully compliant with these new regulations, but to protect the charities themselves, as failure to comply with these changes could jeopardise their ability to continue to provide their vital services.

Our teams of advisors are available, as always, to discuss how your giving plans may be affected by these changes.