Lok Sabha Question No. 2314 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2021-12-13
Subject: Electoral Bond Scheme
Ministry: FINANCE
Asked by: Abdul Khaleque, Vinod Kumar Sonkar, Sukanta Majumdar, Bhola Singh, Raja Amareshwara Naik

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF FINANCE

## DEPARTMENT OF ECONOMIC AFFAIRS

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.2314 ANSWERED ON MONDAY, THE 13 th  DECEMBER, 2021

## 'Electoral Bond Scheme'

## 2314.   SHRI ABDUL KHALEQUE:

SHRI VINOD KUMAR SONKAR:

DR. SUKANTA MAJUMDAR:

SHRI BHOLA SINGH:

SHRI RAJA AMARESHWARA NAIK:

## Will the Minister of FINANCE be pleased to state:

- (a) Whether  the  Government  is  implementing  the  Electoral  Bond  Scheme  in  the Country and if so, the details thereof;
- (b) Whether  only  the  State  Bank  of  India  has  been  authorized  to  issue  the  electoral bonds and if so, the details thereof;
- (c) Whether the electoral bonds that have been issued, carry unique hidden alphanumeric serial numbers and if so, the details thereof along with the reasons therefor;
- (d) Whether  the  Government  has  made  any  assessment  of  the  electoral  bonds  with regard to inflow of black money in electoral politics and if so, the details thereof;
- (e) The amount of electoral bonds purchased by the citizens as well as the amount of funds  encashed/  collected  by  eligible  political  parties  through  electoral  bonds  till date, phase-wise and party-wise; and
- (f) The other steps being taken by the Government for bringing out electoral reforms in the Country?

## ANSWER

## THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF FINANCE (SHRI PANKAJ CHAUDHARY)

- (a) The Electoral Bond Scheme, 2018 was launched by the Government on January 02, 2018  vide  Notification  No.29  (E).  So  far  18  phases  have  been  completed  till November 30, 2021.
- (b) As per the clause 2(b) of the Notification of Electoral Bond Scheme, 2018, dated January 02, 2018, the State Bank of India has been authorized to issue and encash the electoral bonds;
- (c) The hidden alphanumeric numbers on Electoral Bonds (EBs) is an internal security feature to prevent printing/encashment of any forged EBs;
- (d) The Electoral Bond Scheme is, in fact, an unprecedented step towards cleansing the process  of  funding  of  political  parties  and  major  improvement  over  conventional practice of funding the political system through donations in cash. The purchaser is allowed to buy electoral bond(s) only on due fulfilment of all the extant instructions regarding KYC norms issued by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and by making payment  from  a  bank  account.  All  payments  for  the  issuance  of  the  bond  are accepted  only  in  Indian  rupees,  through  demand  draft  or  cheque  or  through Electronic Clearing System or direct debit to the buyer's account.
- (e) The amount of electoral bonds purchased  by the general public and redeemed by eligible political parties till XVIII Phase are detailed  in the Annexure. The details of Electoral Bond encashed Political Party wise is not collated centrally at SBI.
- (f) Government  has  introduced  wide  range  of  electoral  reforms  related  to  expenses incurred by candidate; disclosure obligations of individual candidates and political parties  etc.  The  launch  of  electoral  bond  scheme  marked  an  unprecedented  step towards cleansing the process of funding of political parties and a step forward to strengthen transparency in financing the electoral process in the country.

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## Annexure

| Electoral Bond (EB) Scheme - Phase Wise Report   | Electoral Bond (EB) Scheme - Phase Wise Report   | Electoral Bond (EB) Scheme - Phase Wise Report   |
|--------------------------------------------------|--------------------------------------------------|--------------------------------------------------|
| Phase                                            | EBs Sold (Purchased) Amount in `                 | EBs Redeemed (Encashed) Amount in `              |
| I                                                | 2,22,00,10,000.00                                | 2,21,00,02,000.00                                |
| II                                               | 1,14,90,07,000.00                                | 1,14,90,01,000.00                                |
| III                                              | 1,01,40,00,000.00                                | 91,40,00,000.00                                  |
| IV                                               | 32,50,00,000.00                                  | 32,50,00,000.00                                  |
| V                                                | 4,01,73,25,000.00                                | 4,01,53,25,000.00                                |
| VI                                               | 1,84,20,00,000.00                                | 1,84,20,00,000.00                                |
| VII                                              | 3,50,36,02,000.00                                | 3,50,36,01,000.00                                |
| VIII                                             | 13,65,69,12,000.00                               | 13,64,69,00,000.00                               |
| IX                                               | 22,56,37,12,000.00                               | 22,51,32,11,000.00                               |
| X                                                | 8,22,25,79,000.00                                | 8,19,25,75,000.00                                |
| XI                                               | 45,38,00,000.00                                  | 45,38,00,000.00                                  |
| XII                                              | 2,31,93,00,000.00                                | 2,31,93,00,000.00                                |
| XIII                                             | 81,67,00,000.00                                  | 81,67,00,000.00                                  |
| XIV                                              | 2,82,29,01,000.00                                | 2,82,29,00,000.00                                |
| XV                                               | 42,10,00,000.00                                  | 42,07,00,000.00                                  |
| XVI                                              | 6,95,34,02,000.00                                | 6,95,34,00,000.00                                |
| XVII                                             | 1,50,51,30,000.00                                | 1,50,51,30,000.00                                |
| XVIII                                            | 6,14,33,95,000.00                                | 6,14,33,95,000.00                                |
|                                                  | 79,94,97,75,000.00                               | 79,74,69,40,000.00                               |