Ministry of Home Affairs effected changes in FCRA

Context: Ministry of Home Affairs effected changes in the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act (FCRA).

More about Changes:

Political parties, legislature members, election candidates, judges, government servants, journalists and media houses among others all barred from receiving foreign contribution will no longer be prosecuted if they receive foreign contribution from relatives abroad and fail to intimate the government within 90 days.
The amended rule makes this a compoundable offence, and the recipient will be required to pay 5% of the foreign contribution received – earlier, such an offence would entail prosecution in a court of law.
The new notifications have increased the number of compoundable offences under the Act from 7 to 12 and this is one of them.
Exemption from intimation to the government for contributions less than Rs 10 lakh – the earlier limit was Rs 1 lakh — received from relatives abroad, and increase in time limit for intimation of opening of bank accounts.
Requires NGOs to intimate the Ministry within 15 days whenever there is change in an NGO’s bank account, name, address, aims, objectives or key members, the deadline has now been increased to 45 days.
Amendments have been brought to ensure applications for revision of an order passed by the “competent authority” can be made to the Home Secretary in electronic form as well. Earlier it had to be made on plain paper.