MHA notifies FCRA rules defining religious activities, tightens compliance

The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) notified amended Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Rules, 2026, introducing for the first time a formal schedule defining ...

What Happened

The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) notified amended Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Rules, 2026, introducing for the first time a formal schedule defining what qualifies as a "religious activity" for organisations receiving foreign funds.
Permissible activities include construction, renovation and maintenance of places of worship (temples, mosques, churches, gurudwaras, monasteries, synagogues); preservation, printing, translation and digitisation of sacred scriptures; support for institutions studying religious philosophy and history; and provision of amenities for pilgrims.
Proselytisation — efforts aimed at converting individuals from one religion to another — is explicitly excluded from every permissible religious activity category.
The amended rules introduce the concept of a "key functionary," expanding accountability beyond formal office-bearers to include directors, partners, trustees, karta of Hindu Undivided Families, and any person responsible for management or control of an organisation.
Registration certificates must now specify the exact purpose and geographical area of operation; organisations must choose objectives strictly from the prescribed schedule and declare the states or Union Territories where activities will be carried out.
Organisations are also required to declare social media accounts used to conduct their work.
Existing FCRA-registered entities have been given one year to submit updated details to the Centre.

Static Topic Bridges

Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act, 2010 (FCRA)

FCRA 2010 regulates the acceptance and utilisation of foreign contributions by individuals, associations, and companies to ensure that foreign funds do not adversely affect the sovereignty and integrity of India, public order, or harmony between communities. No person may accept foreign contributions without either a certificate of registration (valid for five years) or prior permission from the Central Government. Registered organisations must maintain a separate set of accounts exclusively for foreign contributions and receive all foreign funds through a designated bank account at the State Bank of India, Parliament Street Branch, New Delhi. The Act was amended significantly in 2020 to tighten restrictions, reduce the administrative expenses cap, and mandate direct credit to the SBI designated account.

Registration requires the association to be at least three years old, have undertaken reasonable activity in its chosen field, and have spent at least Rs. 10 lakh over three years on activities (excluding administrative expenditure).
Prior permission is granted for a specific amount from a specific donor for a specific purpose — typically used by newer organisations.
FCRA cancellation bars an organisation from re-registration for three years.
The 2020 Amendment Act prohibited sub-granting (passing foreign funds to other organisations) and restricted use of funds for administrative expenses to 20%.

Connection to this news: The 2026 rules operationalise the FCRA framework at a finer level by creating a defined schedule of permissible activities for the first time, reducing regulatory ambiguity while tightening the scope for religious organisations funded from abroad.

Articles 25 and 26 — Constitutional Freedom of Religion

Article 25 of the Constitution guarantees all persons the freedom of conscience and the right to profess, practice and propagate religion, subject to public order, morality, and health. Article 26 guarantees every religious denomination the right to establish and maintain institutions for religious and charitable purposes, manage its own affairs in matters of religion, and own and administer property in accordance with law. However, the State retains power under Article 25(2) to regulate or restrict any economic, financial, political or other secular activity which may be associated with religious practice. The Supreme Court has consistently held that while the State cannot interfere with the essential religious practices of a denomination, it can regulate the secular aspects of religious institutions.

The "essential religious practices" doctrine — developed in cases such as the Shirur Mutt case (1954) — determines the boundary between what courts protect and what legislatures may regulate.
Article 25 applies to all persons (citizens and non-citizens); Article 26 applies to religious denominations.
The right to "propagate" religion under Article 25 does not include the right to convert others by force, fraud or inducement (upheld in Rev. Stainislaus v. State of Madhya Pradesh, 1977).

Connection to this news: The explicit exclusion of proselytisation from FCRA-permissible religious activities is consistent with the constitutional position that propagation does not extend to coercive or incentivised conversion; it tests the regulatory State's power over the secular dimensions of religion.

Sovereignty and Regulatory Oversight of Foreign Funding

A recurring concern in Indian law is the potential use of foreign funds to influence domestic affairs — religious, political, or social. FCRA operates on the principle that while civil society may legitimately receive foreign support for charitable work, that support must be transparent and bounded. Over successive amendments (1976, 2010, 2020, and now 2026), Parliament has progressively tightened this framework, moving from a permissive to a schedularised approach that limits what can be funded.

The original FCRA 1976 was enacted during the Emergency period amid concerns about foreign interference in electoral and political processes.
FCRA prohibits foreign contributions to legislators, political parties, judges, government servants, media organisations, and several categories of public servants.
The 2020 Amendment Act was challenged in the Supreme Court in Noel Harper v. Union of India (2022); the Supreme Court upheld the amendments, ruling that the right to receive foreign funds is not a fundamental right.

Connection to this news: The 2026 rules extend the 2020 tightening to the religious domain by definitionally bounding what counts as permissible religious work, preventing the broad category of "religious activities" from serving as a regulatory loophole for foreign-funded conversion activities.

Key Facts & Data

FCRA 2010 replaced the earlier FCRA 1976.
The 2020 Amendment Act reduced the cap on administrative expenses from 50% to 20% of foreign contributions received.
All foreign contributions must flow through SBI, Parliament Street Branch, New Delhi — a single designated bank account per organisation.
The new term "key functionary" extends compliance responsibility to directors, trustees, partners, and karta of HUFs.
Organisations have one year from notification to submit updated registration details under the 2026 rules.
Proselytisation is explicitly excluded from every permissible category in the new schedule.
The Supreme Court in Noel Harper v. Union of India (2022) upheld FCRA 2020 amendments, reaffirming that receiving foreign funds is not a fundamental right.