The government has approved the 17th tranche of Electoral bonds sale: Current Affairs Special Series

Team Adda247 and BankersAdda are here with a Current Affairs Special Series. In this series, candidates will be introduced to current affairs topics daily, which will not only improve their general awareness but also will ensure that the candidates do not lack in any current affairs topic. Today’s Current Affairs topic is The government has approved the 17th tranche of Electoral bonds sale.

The government has approved the 17th tranche of Electoral bonds sale

The government has approved the issuance of the 17th tranche of electoral bonds which is going to be started from 1st July 2021. This step is done ahead of the Assembly elections in five states.

Electoral Bonds: An electoral bond is kind of a promissory note that can be bought by any Indian citizen or company incorporated in India from select branches of the State Bank of India. Then the citizen or corporate can donate the same to any eligible political party of his/her choice. The bonds are equal to banknotes that are payable to the bearer on demand and are free of interest. An individual or party is allowed to purchase these bonds digitally or through a cheque.

• The electoral bonds were introduced in 2017 with the Finance Bill. On January 29, 2018, the Narendra Modi-led NDA government had notified the Electoral Bond Scheme 2018.

• The bonds are issued in the multiples of Rs 1,000, Rs 10,000, Rs 100,000 and Rs 1 crore (the range of a bond is between Rs 1,000 to Rs 1 crore).

SBI is the only authorised bank that can issue such bonds. State Bank of India in the 17th phase of sale, has been authorised to issue and encash electoral bonds through it 29 authorised branches with effect from July 1st to July 10th 2021.

The sale of the first batch of electoral bonds has been done from March 1-10, 2018. And the latest 16th tranche of the bond sale took place from April 1 to April 10, 2021.

Electoral bonds can only be purchased by a person who is a citizen of India or entities incorporated or established in the country according to the provisions of the scheme. Registered political parties that have received not less than one per cent of the votes polled in the last election of the Lok Sabha or a legislative Assembly are eligible to receive electoral bonds. 

An electoral bond is valid for 15 days from the date of issue. No payment would be given to any payee political party if a bond is deposited after the expiry of its validity period. As eligible political party deposits, a bond into its account would be credited on the same day.