New Delhi: The Ministry of Home Affairs has offered a one-time exemption to Non-Government Organisations to file ‘missing’ returns as mandated by the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act without being levied any fine.

However, the order from the MHA has also warned NGOs to not "fall into any trap of any unscrupulous elements”.

The order says, "In case any person asks for any facilitation fees/other charges please report the matter to Joint Secretary."

This warning comes at a time when the foreigners division has been battling continuous corruption charges and allegations that officials are holding back FRCA related clearances and asking NGOs for money.

The government has given one final opportunity to all associations/organisations which have applied for renewal of their registration under the FCRA but not uploaded their annual returns from Financial Year 2010-11 to 2014-15.

All such NGOs can upload their missing annual returns along with the requisite documents within a period of 30 days, starting from May 15, 2017 to June 14, 2017. Further, no compounding fee will be imposed on them for late filing of returns during this period.

This exemption is one-time measure. The renewal of registration under FCRA cannot be granted unless the annual returns are uploaded by the organization.​

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