Electoral Bond Scheme 2018

Sale of Electoral Bonds at Authorised Branches of State Bank of India (SBI)

Government of India has notified the Electoral Bond Scheme 2018 vide Gazette Notification No. 20 dated January 02, 2018. As per provisions of the Scheme, Electoral Bonds may be purchased by a person (as defined in item No. 2 (d) of Gazette Notification), who is a citizen of India or incorporated or established in India. A person being an individual can buy Electoral Bonds, either singly or jointly with other individuals. Only the Political Parties registered under Section 29A of the Representation of the People Act, 1951 (43 of 1951) and which secured not less than one per cent of the votes polled in the last General Election to the House of the People or the Legislative Assembly of the State, shall be eligible to receive the Electoral Bonds. The Electoral Bonds shall be encashed by an eligible Political Party only through a Bank account with the Authorized Bank. 

State Bank of India (SBI), in the XII Phase of sale, has been authorised to issue and encash Electoral Bonds through its 29 Authorized Branches ( as per list enclosed)w.e.f. 01.10.2019 to 10.10.2019.

It may be noted that Electoral Bonds shall be valid for fifteen calendar days from the date of issue and no payment shall be made to any payee Political Party if the Electoral Bond is deposited after expiry of the validity period. The Electoral Bond deposited by an eligible Political Party in its account shall be credited on the same day.

Electoral bond validity period: bonds valid fifteen days; eligible purchasers and registered parties must use authorised bank branches to encash. Electoral Bonds under the Scheme 2018 permit eligible persons (Indian citizens or entities) to purchase bonds for donation to political parties that satisfy registration and vote-based eligibility; bonds must be issued and encashed only through designated authorised bank branches and credited to the eligible party's bank account. Each bond is valid for fifteen calendar days from issue and will not be paid if deposited after expiry; bonds deposited within validity are credited the same day.