Section 29C of the RPA 1951
Also called: Contribution report · Topic: Electoral Reforms: Money, Criminalisation and Simultaneous Elections · NCERT: Beyond NCERT
Meaning
Section 29C of the Representation of the People Act 1951 is about the contribution report. Every party must report to the ECI each year all donations above ₹20,000 that it got from any person or company. It was added by the 2002-03 amendments. Filing this report is a condition for the party's income-tax exemption under Section 13A of the Income-tax Act 1961. It matters because it lets voters see who funds parties.
Example
In 2017, the Finance Act took electoral bonds out of Section 29C reporting, so bond donors stayed hidden. In ADR v. Union of India (15 February 2024), the Supreme Court struck down the bond scheme and those 2017 changes.
Don't confuse with
- Section 77 of the RPA 1951: it caps what a candidate may spend on a campaign. Section 29C is about what a party receives and reports.
Related concepts
- Money power in elections
- Election expenditure limits
- Star campaigner
- Section 13A of the Income Tax Act 1961
- Cash donation limit
- Corporate donations to political parties
- Foreign funding of political parties
- Electoral trusts