Have filed returns on time, FCRA license cancellation due to procedural lapses: IIT Delhi

The prestigious Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) said on Thursday that there have been certain "procedural lapses" in cancellation of its FCRA license, preventing it from receiving foreign funds.The IIT Delhi is among several hundred organisations whose registration under the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act, 2010 (FCRA) has been cancelled by the Home Ministry as they have failed to file their annual returns for five consecutive years.Senior officials at the institution said they were exempted from registration under the FCRA as it was set up through an Act of Parliament and is audited by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG)."We have been filing our returns as per deadlines. There are certain procedural lapses in cancellation of the license and we will take up the issue with the Home Ministry," IIT Delhi Director V Ramgopal Rao told PTI.Rao said the institute was receiving foreign funding through two mechanisms."There are two accounts, one in which we receive donations form alumni and second in which we receive project funding. While we sort out the issue of the project funding license, we can continue receiving funds from alumni," he added."Under the FCRA norms, if an institute is set up through an Act of Parliament or a state legislature or if its accounts are audited by CAG it does not need to register under FCRA to accept foreign funding," IIT Delhi Registrar Sandeep Chaterjee said."Even after the exemption, we have been filing all our returns traditionally hence the question of being a defaulter on the list does not arise," he said.