Legal Entity Requirements

• The organization must be registered under:
  
  • Indian Trusts Act, 1882
    
  • Societies Registration Act, 1860
    
  • Companies Act, 2013 (Section 8 Company)
    
• Must have a clearly defined charitable, social, educational, or religious purpose.

Operational History

• The NGO must have a minimum of three years’ track record of genuine activities in the chosen field.
  
• Should have undertaken reasonable charitable work in the past without foreign funding.

Financial Threshold

• The organization must have spent at least ₹15 lakhs on core objectives over the last three years.
  
• Audited financial statements of the last three years must be submitted to prove utilization.

Bank Account Compliance

• Must open a dedicated FCRA account at the SBI New Delhi Main Branch for receiving foreign contributions.
  
• The account must be separate from other domestic accounts.

Organizational and Trustee Requirements

• Key functionaries must not be:
  
  • Convicted or under prosecution for religious conversion or communal disharmony.
    
  • Involved in the misuse of funds or activities against national interest.
    
  • Members of any banned or political organization.

No Prohibited Activities

• NGO should not be engaged in activities:
  
  • Of a political nature.
    
  • That affects the sovereignty and integrity of India.
    
  • That involves speculative business or personal gain.

DARPAN ID Registration

• Registration on NITI Aayog’s NGO DARPAN portal is mandatory before applying for FCRA.
  
• DARPAN ID is used to validate NGO credentials and for official tracking.

Transparency and Governance

• An NGO must have a clearly defined management structure and democratic functioning.
  
• Must maintain transparency in the utilization of funds, governance, and reporting.