Context :

• The seventh tranche of electoral bonds sale began today. It will continue till 10th of this month.
• The State Bank of India, SBI has been authorised to issue and encash Electoral Bonds through its 29 Authorised Branches.

Electoral bonds :

• Electoral bonds are being pitched as an alternative to cash donations made to political parties as part of efforts to bring transparency in political funding.
• Electoral bonds aggregating to 1057 Crore rupees were purchased by citizens or entities till the completion of sixth phase of issuance of electoral bonds in November 2018.
• The government had notified the Electoral Bond Scheme in January last year and the sale of first batch of electoral bonds took place in March 2018.
• As per provisions of the scheme, electoral bonds may be purchased by a person, who is a citizen of India or entities incorporated or established in India.
• Registered political parties that have secured not less than one per cent of the votes polled in the last election of the Lok Sabha or legislative assembly will be eligible to receive electoral bonds.
• An electoral bond will be valid for 15 days from the date of issue. No payment would be made to any payee political party if the bond is deposited after expiry of the validity period.