For More Transparency, EC Asks Parties to File Financial Accounts on Its New Website

To overcome difficulties in filing physical reports and in a standardised format, the Election Commission has launched a new website where political parties will be able to file financial accounts online, including contribution, audited annual account and election expenditure statements.

In a statement issued on Monday, the EC said the website has a facility for sending reminders in the form of messages on the registered mobile number and emails of the authorised representatives of the political party so that the dates of compliances are not missed.

The EC has written to the political parties saying the online availability of the data is expected to enhance the level of compliance and transparency.

In the letter, the EC pointed to the pivotal position of political parties, and stressed that it is incumbent on them to adhere to the principles of democratic functioning and transparency in electoral processes, particularly in financial disclosures.

“The political parties not wishing to file the financial report through online mode will have to convey the reasons for not filing on-line to the Commission in writing and may continue to file its reports in hard copy along with CDs/Pen drive in the prescribed formats. The commission will, in turn, publish all such reports online, along with a letter of justification sent by the party for not filing financial statements online,” the ECI added.

A comprehensive manual with graphical representations and FAQs has also been sent to the political parties explaining the online module and the process of filing reports online.

To give further guidance on the online filing, the EC would also organise a hands-on training programme for the designated persons from various political parties.

The political parties are required to submit the financial reports to the Election Commission/Chief Electoral Officers of States/Union Territories, as per the Representation of People’s Act, 1951 & transparency guidelines issued by the Commission, from time to time, over the last many years.

Last year, the EC took up a drive considering dismal level of compliance with regulatory financial reporting and certain instances of serious financial impropriety that Commission came across in cases of few Registered Unrecognized Political Parties (RUPPs).

As a result of this drive, based on due diligence and verification, 284 RUPPs were delisted and 253 other RUPPs were declared inactive. In total, action was taken against a total 537 RUPPs in 2022.

Various instances have come to notice of the ECI where a number of political parties have either not filed one or more requisite financial statements or have filed delayed/ inadequate / incomplete details, that too in a non-standardised manner.

With the twin objectives of facilitating political parties to overcome the difficulties in physical filing of reports and secondly, to ensure timely filing of financial statements in the prescribed and standardised formats, ECI has developed IT modules for online submission of financial statements.

The tech-based system is also enabled to receive statements only from the authorised representative of the party, send reminders on the registered mobile number and emails, and progressively keep digital records.