Tirupati Trust's FCRA Renewal Approved For Five Years

On Wednesday, media reports suggested that the Ministry of Home Affairs hinted at renewing the registration of the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) under the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA). According to an electronic notification by the TTD, the registration had been pending since July 17, 2019, and was approved for a period of five years starting from 2020 by the competent authority.

In 2019, when the TTD applied for FCRA registration renewal, it was placed under "suspension" and received two penalty notices for not submitting its annual returns in the prescribed manner. The most recent penalty notice, dated March 5, 2023, required the TTD to pay a penalty of Rs 3.19 crore.

The TTD has claimed that discrepancies in its accounting were caused by the divergence of regulations between the FCRA Department and the Andhra Pradesh Charitable and Hindu Religious Institutions Endowments Act (APCHR).

Meanwhile, the problems of the TTD over foreign currency receipts have mounted since following the amended rules of the FCRA in 2020. The State Bank of India also strictly prohibits the deposit of foreign currency dropped in temple hundi without the donor’s verification in the designated bank account.

This has resulted in increased international donations, which have reached Rs 26.86 crore in over a year. The recently sent TTD donation details to the home ministry state, US dollars worth Rs 11.50 crore, Malaysian ringgits worth Rs 5.93 crore, and Singapore dollars of Rs 4.06 crore.