With the latest tranche last month, 30 tranches of electoral bonds issued so far have collected over ₹16,518 crore, government data show.
The scheme, introduced in 2018, aims “to ensure clean tax-paid money is coming into the system of political funding through proper banking channels.” As per clause 10 of the Electoral Bond Scheme (Gazette Notification dated 02.01.2018), no commission, brokerage or any other charges for the issue of a bond shall be payable by the buyer against the purchase of the bond. Also, no GST or any other taxes/cess are charged to the purchaser on purchasing electoral bonds.
According to data presented in Lok Sabha during the just-concluded Budget session, Minister of State in the Finance Ministry Pankaj Chaudhry said: “The total value of Electoral Bonds purchased (Phase-I to Phase –XXX) from State Bank of India is about ₹16,518 crores.” The commission paid to the State Bank of India by the Government of India for the issuance and redemption of Electoral Bonds from Phase I to Phase XXV is about ₹8.57 crore. Also, the amount paid by the Government of India to Security Printing & Minting Corporation of India Ltd (SPMCIL) to date is about ₹1.90 crore.
The Centre notified the Electoral Bond Scheme in 2018. These bonds may be purchased by a person who is a citizen of India or incorporated or established in India. An individual can buy electoral bonds singly or jointly with others. Only the Political Parties registered under Section 29A of the Representation of the People Act, 1951 (43 of 1951) and which secured not less than one per cent of the votes polled in the last General Election to the House of the People or the Legislative Assembly of the State, shall be eligible to receive the Electoral Bonds. These will be encashed by an eligible Political Party only through a Bank account with the Authorized Bank.
Such a bond is a bearer instrument in the nature of a Promissory Note and an interest-free banking instrument. These can be issued/purchased for any value, in multiples of ₹1,000, ₹10,000, ₹1,00,000, ₹10,00,000 and ₹1,00,00,000. The purchaser would be allowed to buy an electoral bond(s) only on due fulfilment of all the extant KYC norms and by making payment from a bank account. It will not carry the name of the payee.
The bonds under the scheme shall be available for purchase for ten days each in January, April, July and October, as may be specified by the Central Government. As of date, the State Bank of India can sell bonds through its authorized branches. These bonds are valid for 15 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 the expiry of the validity period. However, an additional 15 days will be given during the general election. These bonds deposited by an eligible Political Party in its account shall be credited on the same day.