Amendments In Electoral Bond Scheme:
Weeks ahead of elections in certain states, the Central Government has amended the Electoral Bond Scheme.
Amendments Made to the Scheme:
Additional Period of 15 Days:
- Introduced a new para, stating that an additional period of fifteen days shall be specified by the Central Government in the year of general elections to the Legislative Assembly of States and Union territories with Legislature.
- In 2018, when the Electoral Bond Scheme was introduced, these bonds were made available for a period of 10 days each in January, April, July and October, as may be specified by the central government.
- An additional period of 30 days was to be specified by the Central Government in the year of the General election to the House of People.
Validity:
- The Electoral Bonds shall be valid for fifteen calendar days from the date of issue and no payment shall be made to any payee Political Party if the Electoral Bond is deposited after expiry of the validity period.
- The Electoral Bond deposited by an eligible Political Party in its account shall be credited on the same day.
Eligibility:
- Only the political parties registered under Section 29A of the Representation of the People Act, 1951 which secured at least 1% of votes polled in the last General Election to the Lok Sabha or the State Legislative Assembly are eligible to receive Electoral Bonds.
