Question : Electoral Bond Scheme

Will the Minister of FINANCE (????? ?????? ) be pleased to state:

(a) Whether the Government has notified and implemented the Electoral Bond Scheme, 2018 recently and if so, the details thereof;

(b) Whether only the State Bank of India has been authorized to issue the electoral bond, if so, the details thereof;

(c) the amount of Electoral Bonds purchased by the citizens as well as the amount of funds encashed by eligible political parties this year, phase-wise; and

(d) Whether the Electoral Bonds that have been issued carry unique hidden alphanumeric serial numbers, if so, the details thereof and the reasons therefor?

MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF FINANCE (SHRI P. RADHAKRISHNAN )

(a) The Government has notified the Electoral Bond Scheme, 2018 vide Gazette Notification No. S.O. 29(E) dated January 02, 2018.

(b) State Bank of India is the only authorised bank to issue and encash the Electoral Bearer Bonds under the Scheme.

(c ) The phase-wise collection under the Scheme is given below:

Phase No. of Bonds Amount collected (` crore) No. of Bonds redeemed Amount of bonds redeemed (` crore)
I 520 222.00 511 221.00
II 256 114.90 250 114.90
III 204 101.40 198 91.40

(d) The unique hidden alphanumeric serial numbers on Electoral Bonds (EBs) is one of the inbuilt security features to prevent printing/encashment of any forged EBs.
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