Centre amends Electoral Bond scheme to open a fresh one-week window for sales of such bonds starting November 9

• The Centre recently amended the electoral bond scheme to grant itself the power to provide an extra fortnight of bond sales in years when the States and Union Territories with a legislature have polls.

Electoral Bond scheme

• Introduced in 2018 as an alternative to cash donations to political parties
• Encashed solely by the State Bank of India (SBI).
• Electoral Bonds shall be valid for 15 calendar days from the date of issue.
• 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 shall be credited on the same day.

Prelims Takeaway

• Electoral bonds