Foreign Contribution Regulation Act 2010 / Section 48

Section 48 FCRA: Power to Make Rules

Section 48 of the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act, 2010 authorises the Central Government to make rules, by notification, for carrying out the provisions of the Act. It is the principal rule-making provision supporting the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Rules, 2011 and their subsequent amendments.

Current legal context: The Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Rules, 2011 have been amended from time to time. The Ministry of Home Affairs FCRA portal lists amendments through the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Amendment Rules, 2026. The 2026 amendment notification was issued in exercise of the power conferred by Section 48.

Meaning and scope of Section 48

Section 48 is a delegated legislation provision. Parliament has enacted the substantive framework in the FCRA, while this section permits the Central Government to prescribe procedural details, forms, fees, reporting requirements, administrative standards and other matters necessary to implement the Act.

The expression "prescribed" is relevant throughout the FCRA because matters that the Act leaves to prescription are ordinarily dealt with through rules made under this statutory authority. Rules made under Section 48 must operate within the framework of the Act.

Text of Section 48 - Power to make rules

(1) The Central Government may, by notification, make rules for carrying out the provisions of this Act.

(2) In particular, and without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing power, such rules may provide for all or any of the following matters, namely:

  1. the value of the article which may be specified under sub-clause (i) of clause (h) of sub-section (1) of section 2;
  2. the authority which may be specified under clause (p) of sub-section (1) of section 2;
  3. acceptance or retention of gift or presentation under clause (d) of section 4;
  4. guidelines specifying the ground or grounds on which an organisation may be specified as an organisation of political nature under sub-section (1) of section 5;
  5. the activities or business which shall be construed as speculative business under the proviso to clause (a) of sub-section (1) of section 8;
  6. the elements and the manner in which the administrative expenses shall be calculated under sub-section (2) of section 8;
  7. the time within which and the manner in which any person or class of persons or an association may be required to furnish intimation regarding the amount of foreign contribution received under clause (c) of section 9;
  8. the time within which and the manner in which any person or class of persons may be required to furnish intimation regarding foreign hospitality under clause (e) of section 9;
  9. the manner in which the copy of the order of the Central Government shall be served upon any person under section 10;
  10. the form and manner in which the application for grant of certificate of registration or giving of prior permission under sub-section (1) of section 12;
  11. the fee to be accompanied by the application under sub-section (1) of section 12;
  12. the terms and conditions for granting a certificate or giving prior permission under clause (g) of sub-section (4) of section 12;
  13. the manner of utilising the foreign contribution under clause (b) of sub-section (2) of section 13;
  14. the authority with whom the foreign contribution to be vested under sub-section (1) of section 15;
  15. the period within which and the manner in which the foreign contribution shall be managed under sub-section (2) of section 15;
  16. the form and manner in which the application for a renewal of certificate of registration shall be made under sub-section (2) of section 16;
  17. the fee to be accompanied by the application for renewal of certificate under sub-section (2) of section 16;
  18. the prescribed amount of foreign remittance, the form and manner in which the foreign remittance received by every bank or authorised person in foreign exchange shall be reported under sub-section (2) of section 17;
  19. the time within which and the manner in which the person who has been granted certificate of registration or given prior permission under this Act shall give intimation under section 18;
  20. the form and manner in which account of any foreign contribution and the manner in which such contribution has been utilised shall be maintained under section 19;
  21. the time within which and the manner in which a candidate for election shall give intimation under section 21;
  22. the manner and procedure to be followed in disposing of the assets under section 22;
  23. the limits subject to which any confiscation may be adjudged under clause (b) of sub-section (1) of section 29;
  24. the fee to be accompanied along with every application for revision under sub-section (5) of section 32;
  25. the form and manner for making of an application for compounding of an offence and the fee therefor under sub-section (4) of section 41;
  26. the form and manner in which and the time within which returns and statements to be furnished by the prescribed authority under section 44;
  27. any other matter which is required to be, or may be, prescribed.

What matters can be regulated through rules?

Section 48(2) identifies a wide range of implementation matters. These include definitions requiring prescribed values or authorities, gifts and presentations, organisations of political nature, administrative expenses, registration and prior permission applications, renewal, bank reporting, accounts, returns, asset disposal, revision and compounding.

The final residual clause, Section 48(2)(za), also permits rules on any other matter that the Act requires or permits to be prescribed. This enables detailed implementation without repeating every procedural requirement in the parent Act.

Relationship with the FCRA Rules, 2011

The Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Rules, 2011 contain the operational rules and statutory forms used for FCRA compliance. Because these rules can be amended by notification, organisations and professionals should read Section 48 together with the latest version of the Rules and applicable amendment notifications.

For example, the Central Government used Section 48 to notify the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Amendment Rules, 2025 and again to notify the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Amendment Rules, 2026. The 2026 amendments include changes to definitions and compliance-related provisions and forms.

Section 48 and Section 49

Section 48 provides the power to make rules. Section 49 separately deals with laying specified orders and rules before Parliament. Reading the two provisions together helps explain both the delegated rule-making power and the statutory parliamentary laying mechanism.

Practical compliance point

Section 48 itself does not prescribe a registration form, filing deadline or fee. It authorises the Central Government to make rules on those subjects. Therefore, for an actual filing or compliance requirement, the relevant provision of the FCRA should be checked together with the current FCRA Rules, the applicable statutory form and any current Ministry of Home Affairs notification or public notice.

Official FCRA resources