The Finance Ministry has authorised the country's top lender State Bank of India (SBI) to issue and encash electoral bonds through 29 authorised branches from December 5-12.
What are Electoral Bonds?
Notified in 2018, electoral bonds have been pitched as an alternative to cash donations made to political parties as part of efforts to bring transparency in political funding.
These bonds can be purchased by a person who is a citizen of India or incorporated or established in India.
Electoral bonds validity
An electoral bond will be valid for 15 days from the date of issuance. No payment would be made to any political party if the bond is deposited after expiry of the validity period.
Electoral bonds on sale at these 29 branches of SBI
SBI is the only authorised bank to issue electoral bonds. The authorised SBI branches include those in Lucknow, Shimla, Dehradun, Kolkata, Guwahati, Chennai, Patna, New Delhi, Chandigarh, Srinagar, Gandhinagar, Bhopal, Raipur, and Mumbai.
The last phase of electoral bonds (23rd tranche) was open for subscription between November 9-15, 2022. Sale of the first batch of electoral bonds happened from March 1-10, 2018.
