Table of Contents
Electoral Bonds
Characteristics of Electoral Bonds
- The bonds will only be issued by SBI
- They are interest free banking instrument
- bond will be like a bearer cheque which will facilitate donor’s anonymity
- They will be available for any value in multiples of Rs 1000, Rs 1 Lakh , 10 Lakh, 1 Crore
- Electoral bond will have life of 15 days.
- Purchase Period : Not available throughout the year => available 10 days of each quarter
- Parties eligible = secured not less than one % votes in last election to Lok Sabha or Legislative Assembly.
- Know Your Customer norm applicable
- Also the bonds can be encashed by eligible political parties only through designated bank account
Analysis of the working of Electoral Bonds
Government’s Argument
- Provide anonymity to buyers => corporate houses can fund political parties legally without fear of retribution .
Fears
- Decreases Transparency : According to Election Commission of India, it is a retrograde step as far as transparency of donations is concerned .
- According to RBI, Electoral Bond has the potential to increase black money circulation, money laundering and cross-border counterfeiting due to factors like anonymity .
- Danger to Democracy : All banks report to the RBI which, in turn, is subject to the Central government . Hence, Electoral Bonds although anonymous but ruling party can ascertain donors
- Against equality : only those parties are eligible which have won 1% of votes in the preceding election, which pose a formidable entry barrier to new contenders
- Ruling party got 94.6% electoral bond cash => designed to help ruling party.
Invisible Number on Electoral Bonds Issue
- Quint has confirmed that electoral bonds carry hidden alphanumeric numbers printed on them.
- SBI : According to SBI, it is security feature only and Bank don’t keep any record of this number .