With its registration under the FCRA (Foreign Contribution Regulation Act) under “suspension” for the past three years, the country’s richest religious Trust, the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD), faces an unprecedented situation: a mounting stockpile of foreign currency in cash anonymously dropped as “hundi” collections which cannot be deposited in its designated bank account. The TTD, headquartered in Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh, which manages the Tirumala Venkateswara temple and 70 other shrines, has sought the Government’s intervention but has been sent a penalty notice as a reply, The Indian Express has learnt. The State Bank of India (SBI) has forbidden the Trust from depositing any foreign contributions — described as “hundi’’ donations — into its designated account. Result: Foreign currency donations adding up to Rs 26.86 crore have piled up in over a year. The TTD recently sent the Home Ministry the break-up (see box) that includes US Dollars worth Rs 11.50 crore; Malaysian Ringgits Rs 5.93 crore and Singapore Dollars Rs 4.06 crore. Last year, according to reports, TTD received Rs 1,450 crore as total “Hundi collections”. Official sources told The Indian Express that on March 5, the Home Ministry’s FCRA Division wrote to TTD’s Chief Functionary informing them that their Annual Returns are in the “incorrect” format and imposed a penalty of Rs 3.19 crore. It is understood that this penalty is in addition to the Rs 1.14 crore penalty already paid by TTD after non-renewal of its FCRA registration in the end of 2019. Details accessed by The Indian Express reveal that it is “technical discrepancies” and not any misutilisation of funds due to which TTD’s FCRA registration has been kept in abeyance for the past three years. In their notes to the Government sent last year, the Trust argued that there is a divergence between rules and regulations of the Andhra Pradesh Charitable and Hindu Religious Institutions Endowments Act (APCHR) 1987, under which it is governed, and the provisions of the amended FCRA. The TTD also attributed the delay in filing accounts to disruption during the pandemic. It cited Supreme Court rulings (latest on January 10, 2022) wherein a period of limitation was allowed for litigants for filing petitions/applications/appeals before courts and tribunals. Key to the problem related to deposit of foreign contributions is the fact that as per the 2020 amendments in the FCRA Act, an account had to be opened by NGOs in SBI. However, SBI has refused to deposit the foreign currency since the identity of the donors was unknown. In a communication to the government, the TTD has said that the FCRA Act doesn’t specify the process for voluntary contributions “received in a Hundi where the details of the person is not known.” The Ministry has also objected to the “utilization” of the interest earned by TTD on its foreign contributions/donations, a facility not allowed under FCRA. The TTD pointed out that Section 111 of the APCHR Act has specified that the offerings deposited in the Hundi “is part’’ of the corpus of the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams. So, it showed its fixed deposits “as utilized in the FC (foreign contribution) returns originally filed.” Following a direction from the Government to revise its accounts, the TTD said it had revised its statements — including interest earned and utilised — and submitted them on March 26, 2022. However, what the TTD described as a “change of presentation” of its accounts (by including investments and interest earned) has been objected to by the MHA as “incorrect” and the Rs 3.19 crore fresh penalty imposed. The Chief Executive and PRO of TTD did not respond to written questions from The Indian Express on issues with its FCRA registration and the way forward.
