The SBI on March 13 filed an affidavit with the Supreme Court confirming that it has supplied the data on electoral bonds to the Election Commission, as ordered by the top court.
In the affidavit, SBI revealed that a total of 22,217 electoral bonds were purchased and 22,030 redeemed by political parties between April 1, 2019 and February 15 this year.
Here is a look at some key details about the electoral bond scheme, which had been scrapped by the apex court through an earlier order.
What were these bonds?
Electoral bonds were interest-free bearer bonds or money instruments that could be purchased by companies and individuals in India from authorised branches of the State Bank of India (SBI).
These bonds were sold in multiples of Rs 1,000, Rs 10,000, Rs 1 lakh, Rs 10 lakh, and Rs 1 crore. They could be purchased through a KYC-compliant account to make donations to a political party. The political parties had to encash them within a stipulated time.
Electoral bonds were said to be anonymous, which gave rise to a controversy that eventually led to its termination.
There was no cap on the number of electoral bonds that a person or company can purchase.
The government brought in amendments to four Acts to introduce the Electoral Bond Scheme via the Finance Act of 2016 and 2017.
Before the scheme was introduced the political parties had to make public all donations above Rs 20,000. Also, no corporate company was allowed to make donations amounting to more than 7.5% of their total profit or 10% of revenue.
Who could receive funding?
Political parties that got a minimum of 1% of the votes in the recent Lok Sabha or State Assembly elections, and are registered under the RPA, could obtain a verified account from the Election Commission of India (ECI). The bond amounts were deposited in this account within 15 days of purchase.
Political parties required to encash donations within 15 days, which were then deposited into the Prime Minister’s Relief Fund. These bonds were not available for purchase all the time. They could be bought for 10 days every four months (January, April, July, and October), and for 30 days during Lok Sabha election years.
How much political parties received
BJP had gotten about Rs 1,300 crore from these bonds in FY23. Of the total donation BJP got, 61% was from poll bonds.
The Congress, during the same period, received about Rs 171 crore.
In all, the scheme gave political parties over Rs 16,000 crore during its existence.
