Election Commission of India (ECI) on Monday announced that political parties will now be able to file financial accounts online, with the Election Commission opening a web portal for filing of three types of reports - Contribution Report, Audited Annual Account and Election Expenditure Statements by Political Parties. In a letter to the political parties, the Commission has said the step has been taken with twin objectives – to overcome difficulties in filing physical reports, and to ensure timely filing in a standardised format. A manual and FAQ explaining use of the on-line portal and hands-on training sessions will be organised by the Commission for parties.
This development is being seen as an effort to bring in more transparency in disclosures that will be made by political parties.
This step taken by ECI is a part of the poll panel's 3C strategy that comprises of clean up, crackdown and compliance to strengthen transparency and accountability in poltiical funding and expenditure. ECI was working on this for over an year under the leadership of Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar, reported news agency PTI.
The parties who don't intend to use the online mode and wish to stick to the traditional way will need to convey their reasons for doing so. After subitting the reason, they may continue to file reports in hard copy format along with CDs or pen drive in the prescribed formats. ECI then will publish all the submitted reports online on behalf of that party. Along with these reports, the ECI will also submit the letter of justification sent by the party for not filing financial statements online, PTI cited ECI as saying.
As per ECI, this step has been taken with twin objectives viz. to overcome difficulties in filing physical reports, and to ensure timely filing in a standardised format.
According to the Representation of the People's Act of 1951 and transparency guidelines issued by the Commission periodically over the past several years, political parties are required to submit these financial statements to the Election Commission/Chief Electoral Officers of States/Union Territories. The level of compliance and transparency is anticipated to increase with the availability of data online.
According to the statement, the EC emphasised in the letter that political parties play a crucial role in the electoral process and that it is their responsibility to uphold the norms of democratic functioning and transparency, particularly when it comes to financial declarations, reported PTI.