Discrepancies in PAN details of donations declared by regional parties in 2018-19: ADR

The Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) on Thursday said that in 2018-19 out of the 23 regional parties which had declared receiving donations, 16 parties declared 728 donations worth Rs 40.42 crore (17.54 per cent) without their PAN details. The parties include--DMDK, PMK, NDPP, NPF, and JMM and have not provided PAN details of even a single donor in their donations statements, the ADR said in its latest report on analysis of donations received by regional political parties.

Political parties rely heavily on donations for contesting elections and running their daily affairs. They receive huge sums of money in the form of donations or contributions from corporates or business houses, trusts and individuals.

Section 29C of the Representation of the People Act, 1951 mandates that political parties submit their contribution details in excess of Rs 20,000 received from any person or a company to the ECI annually, in such form as may be prescribed, in order to enjoy 100 per cent tax exemption.

As per rule 85B of the Conduct of Election Rules, 1961, the Contributions Report is required to be submitted in Form 24A, before the due date for furnishing a return of its income of that financial year under Section 139 of the Income-Tax Act, to the ECI.

Details of the contributions received by parties which are to be provided as per Form 24A include name, address, PAN, mode of payment and amount contributed by each donor who has made donation above Rs 20,000 in their submission. An analysis of donations statements filed by parties with the ECI shows that there is incomplete, incorrect or non-disclosure of PAN information of donations in some cases as declared by political parties each year.

Similar observations were made after the analysis of donations received by Regional Parties for FY 2017-18, FY 2016-17, FY 2015-16 and FY 2014-15. During the period from FY 2014-15 to 2018-19, regional parties whose donations statements are available on ECI website declared receiving total donations (above Rs 20,000) of Rs 699.15 crore. Of these, total donations with undeclared, incomplete or incorrect PAN details amount to Rs 185.596 cr (26.55 per cent).

This report analyses 40 Regional Parties that declared receiving donations (above Rs 20,000) between FY 2014-15 and 2018-19.  

Year-wise donations (above Rs 20,000) with undeclared, incomplete or incorrect PAN details of donors:

Between FY 2014-15 and 2018-19, Regional Parties declared donations (above Rs 20,000) having undeclared, incomplete or incorrect PAN details, amounting to a total of 16,628 donations worth Rs 185.596 crore. During this period, Regional Parties declared a total of 16555 donations worth Rs 184.69 cr (99.51%) without PAN details.

A total of 73 donations worth Rs 90.61 lakhs (0.49%) were declared by Regional Parties in their Contribution Reports, submitted from FY 2014-15 to 2018-19, with incomplete or incorrect PAN information.

During the FY 2014-15 when Lok Sabha Elections were held, Regional Parties declared the highest amount of donations without PAN details worth Rs 56.85 cr or 30.78% (8177 donations) while the highest amount of donations with incomplete/incorrect PAN details of Rs 37.67 lakhs or 41.57% (16 donations) were declared during FY 2016-17.

Party-wise donations (above Rs 20,000) declared without PAN details of donors:

Between FY 2014-15 and 2018-19, Regional Parties declared maximum donations without PAN details worth Rs 56.85 cr (30.78%) for FY 2014-15 followed by Rs 51.67 cr (27.98%) for the FY 2015-16.

Of the total donations declared by Regional Parties without PAN details during FY 2014-15 to 2018-19, DMK declared the highest donations amounting to Rs 48.90 cr (26.48%), followed by BJD which collected donations worth Rs 45 cr (24.37%) and AAP with such donations worth Rs 42.784 cr (23.17%).

During FY 2015-16, DMK declared maximum donations without PAN details in their Contribution Reports, amounting to Rs 44.77 cr while BJD declared maximum donations without PAN details worth Rs 27 cr during FY 2018-19.

Party-wise donations (above Rs 20,000) with incomplete/incorrect PAN details of donors:

Of the total such donations, maximum donations having incomplete/incorrect PAN worth Rs 37.67 lakhs or 41.57% were declared by Regional Parties for FY 2016-17, followed by Rs 23.17 lakhs or 25.57% collected by parties in FY 2015-16.

AAP collected the highest donations worth Rs 49.42 lakhs (54.54%), having incomplete/incorrect PAN details of donors during this period. 56.64% or Rs 27.99 lakhs of its total donations having incomplete/incorrect PAN were collected in FY 2016-17.

LJP did not declare complete/correct PAN of donations worth Rs 11 lakhs (12.14%), second highest during the period from FY 2014-15 to 2018-19. 100% of its total such donations worth Rs 11 lakhs were collected in FY 2015-16.

Types of non-disclosure of donations (above Rs 20,000) with incomplete/incorrect PAN details of donors:

A total of 73 donations worth Rs 90.61 lakhs have incomplete/incorrect PAN details of donors from FY 2014-15 to 2018-19, with AAP collecting the highest number, 46 donations, followed by DMK collecting 7 donations.

Regional Parties declared a total of 48 donations worth Rs 45.21 lakhs (49.90%) having incorrect arrangement of alphabets and numbers in PAN.

AAP and LJP declared 33 donations worth Rs 21.65 lakhs and 1 donation worth Rs 10 lakhs respectively, having incorrect arrangement of alphabets and numbers in PAN details.

Between FY 2014-15 and 2018-19, Regional Parties declared a total of 25 donations of Rs 45.40 lakhs (50.10%) having missing alphabets and numbers in their PAN.

Sector-wise donations (above Rs 20,000) declared with incomplete PAN details of donors:

During this period, 6 donations collected by Regional Parties from corporate/business houses having incomplete PAN details of donors worth Rs 23.11 lakhs (25.50%) while such donations from individuals amounted to Rs 67.50 lakhs (74.50%) or 67 donations.

AAP collected the highest amount of donations with incomplete PAN details from corporate/business houses worth Rs 17.50 lakhs (75.72%) from 2 donations followed by BJD which collected 1 donation of Rs 3 lakhs (12.98%).

From individual donors, AAP declared 44 donations worth Rs 31.92 lakhs having incomplete details of PAN followed by LJP which collected 2 such donations from individuals worth Rs 11 lakhs.