3 min readMumbaiApr 18, 2024 05:28 AM IST
State Bank of India (SBI) is yet to submit the bill for printing 8,350 electoral bonds of Rs 1 crore denomination which became infructuous after the Supreme Court scrapped the scheme in February, the government said.
Moreover, the government may have to shell out Rs 43.90 lakh to SBI for the 30th phase of the electoral bond sale in January this year. “The final bill for the printing of 8,350 bonds (of Rs one crore denomination) has not been received by the government of India till date,” Department of Economic Affairs said in its reply to the RTI application filed by Commodore Lokesh K Batra (Retd).
An amount of Rs 12.04 crore (inclusive of GST) has been levied to the government as commission so far, consequent to the sale of electoral bonds in 30 phases, DEA said. The government has paid Rs 11.60 crore (inclusive of GST) so far as commission, consequent to the sale of electoral bonds in 29 phases, DEA said. This means the government has to pay Rs 43.90 lakh for the 30th phase.
“Commission for phase XXX (30th phase) is under consideration for payment,” it said.
An amount of Rs 1.9 crore (inclusive of GST) has been levied to the government towards printing of electoral bonds, till date. Further, an amount of Rs 6,720 has been levied for ‘Device to verify Mask-A-Print Security’, DEA said.
Ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, the government printed 8,350 bonds of Rs 1 crore face value worth Rs 8,350 crore since December 29, 2023 before the Supreme Court struck down electoral bond (EB) scheme on February 15, citing violation of right to information and freedom of speech.
These bonds were printed between December 29, 2023 and February 15, 2024 amid expectations among political parties that SC will clear the EB scheme.
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As per available information, 6.826 lakh electoral bonds have been printed till date, DEA said. Overall, the government had printed a total 33,000 numbers of one crore face value bonds worth Rs 33,000 crore and 26,600 Rs 10 lakh face value bonds worth Rs 2,660 crore till date. Political parties mobilised Rs 16,518 crore in 30 phases of the Electoral Bond Scheme since 2018, with corporates and businessmen accounting for a major chunk of the money donated through these bonds.
Political parties received Rs 570 crore through bonds in the last phase (30th phase).
While political parties and donors were getting ready for the 31st phase of bond sale in February or March, the SC stepped in and scrapped the scheme before the election dates were announced. This phase would have been a money spinner for parties in view of the Lok Sabha elections.
According to records, around 94 per cent of the bonds were of Rs one crore face value in most of the 30 phases, indicating that corporates and high networth individuals were the principal donors.
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“The irony’ of the EB scheme is that while donors who buy bond are not required to pay any service charges (commission) to SBI and even printing cost of EBs, it is the government or ultimately, the tax-payers who bear this cost… for enabling transactions of ‘anonymous tax-free funding’ to political parties through opaque Electoral Bonds Scheme 2018,” RTI activist Batra said. These bonds were issued by SBI in denominations of Rs 1,000, Rs 10,000, Rs 1 lakh, Rs 10 lakh and Rs 1 crore.
