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New Delhi, Delhi, India
The Supreme Court on Friday said that all political parties have to disclose the details of donations received through electoral bonds. The details should be submitted before the Election Commission in a sealed envelope and must also include the bank account details of the political parties.
Electoral bonds were introduced by Union finance minister Arun Jaitley during his budget speech in 2017. These bonds were introduced to bring more transparency to political fundings.
Here's all you need to know about electoral bonds:
When it was introduced?
Electoral bonds were introduced by amendments made through the Finance Act 2017 to the Reserve Bank of India Act 1934, Representation of Peoples Act 1951, Income Tax Act 1962 and Companies Act.
When it is available and how to use it?
The electoral bonds are available for a period of 10 days each in the month of January, April, July, and October. It has an additional period of 30 days specified by the central government in the year of general elections.
The bonds are interest-free and can be purchased from any value in multiples of Rs 1,000, Rs 10,000, Rs 1 lakh and Rs 1 crore. People can buy these bonds from specified branches of SBI. It is valid up to 15 days from purchase. It can be bought by making payments digitally or through a cheque. After that banks will forward the bond to designated political parties and they can convert these bonds in money via their registered bank accounts.
The political parties⬠registered with Election Commission are eligible to receive these bonds.
The donor's identity is anonymous. The bank is not allowed to reveal the names of identities under any circumstances.
Which party has benefited most from electoral bonds?
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) received around Rs 210 crore in 2017-2018 donations and thus emerged as the biggest beneficiary of the electoral bond scheme, Election Commission informed the Supreme Court. In total, bonds worth over Rs 1,000 crore were purchased until November 2018.