Sale of ‘less transparent’, physical electoral bonds jumps before polls, show RTI replies | India News,The Indian Express

RBI had batted for digital-only bonds for fear of misuse, govt sought physical sales for donor anonymity, show replies

On average, from the first round of sale of electoral bonds (EBs) in March 2018 until the 22nd round in October this year, digital transactions have accounted for 54.18% of total 19,520 transactions in which bonds worth Rs.10,791 crore were sold.

While the first round of sales in March 2018 saw only 11.92% physical transactions, the preference for physical EBs has fluctuated over the years.

The 23rd tranche of EBs went on sale on Wednesday. It will close on November 15.

According to RTI replies from the State Bank of India to transparency campaigner Commodore Lokesh Batra (retired), physical transactions accounted for a majority of EBs sold in eight of 22 rounds of EB sales thus far. These eight instances were in the run-up to the Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Mizoram, Rajasthan and Telangana polls in 2018; the Lok Sabha elections in 2019; and before the Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh elections this year.

In fact, July, November and May 2018 tranches of EBs saw 87.80%, 63.42% and 57.84% of physical sales, respectively.

https://indianexpress.com/article/india/sale-of-less-transparent-physical-electoral-bonds-jumps-before-polls-show-rti-replies-8259628/


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