Electoral bond issue sees Rs 2-bn sale, available at select SBI branches

An additional period of 30 days shall be specified by the central government in the year of general election

Electoral bonds worth Rs 2.2 billion were sold in their maiden issue, which opened for subscription for 10 days beginning March 1, Parliament was informed on Friday. 

These bonds are bought from scheduled banks by donors that can contribute to political parties’ funding without revealing their identities. 

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had introduced electoral bonds in the Union Budget as a measure to cleanse funding to political parties. Unlike debt instruments, these bonds are akin to promissory notes that allow donors to contribute, with banks as intermediaries. 

The bonds are available for sale at designated branches of State Bank of India.

Minister of State for Finance P Radhakrishnan said the electoral bond scheme was notified in January and the first issue opened this month. The bonds were available for purchase during March 1-10.

He said the interest-free banking instrument could be purchased by an Indian citizen or a body incorporated in India.

“The tenor of an electoral bond is 15 days, during which it can be used for making a donation to registered political parties that have secured at least 1 per cent of the votes polled in the last Lok Sabha elections,” Radhakrishnan added. 

No payment would be made to a political party if the bond was deposited after the expiry of the validity period, he added.

The minister said the bonds would be available for purchase for a period of 10 days each in January, April, July and October. 

An additional period of 30 days will be specified by the government during the year of general elections.

“The electoral bond scheme will provide anonymity to donors and at the same time, establish a transparent political funding system,” he said.

The bonds can be purchased only through a Know Your Customer-compliant account and these can be encashed by an eligible political party only through a designated bank account with an authorised bank. 

The bond deposited by eligible political parties will be credited on the same day.