As per the existing provision, each political party must submit its annual report on income and expenditures to the EC within six months of the expiry of each fiscal year. [break]
A meeting of the constitutional body held at its central office at Kantipath in the capital on Monday endorsed a format that includes 17 annexes.
EC Spokesperson Bir Bahadur Rai said that the EC has set out the format in order to bring about uniformity in the political parties’ annual income and expenditure reports. “The report format will be applicable to the political parties from the upcoming fiscal year,” Rai added.
The constitutional body has stated that the newly-introduced format will make all incomes and expenditures more transparent and the political parties more accountable.
As per the format, political parties must mention in their reports, under the receipt head, all their earnings from membership fees, levy and membership renewals.
Political parties should also disclose money received as domestic donations and financial support from both individuals and organizations and likewise disclose the personal and organizational particulars about donors donating more than Rs 25,000.
As per the existing provision, transactions exceeding Rs 25,000 should be made through banking channels.
According to the format, political parties must incorporate in their annual reports their earnings from the sale of various publications. “The publications may be their own or other political publications sold by the political parties,” Rai added.
Political parties should also disclose their earnings from the sale and auction of property. They should accommodate earnings from investments, rents and interests, among other income.
As per the format, the annual reports must mention both unconditional and conditional grants and other small incomes.
Likewise, under the payment head, political parties should disclose expenditures on conventions and national gatherings. They should also disclose expenditures on orientations and elections.
Similarly, the political parties in their reports must mention expenditures on office operations and publications. According to the report format, they should likewise disclose capital expenditures and investments.
Also, political parties should mention expenses on social programs and expenses related to their sister wings.
According to the report format, the political parties should also disclose their annual savings and loss.
As per the existing provision, the EC can annul the registration of political parties that do not present their annual reports on income and expenditures for three consecutive fiscal years.
According to EC officials, the constitutional body scrapped the registration of 10 political parties last year as they did not submit such annual reports for three consecutive fiscal years. It also alerted some political parties that have not presented their reports for two fiscal years or even for one fiscal year.
Earlier, the EC did not have any particular format for reports on annual income and expenditures of political parties.
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