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Electoral Bond Scheme is notified

On 2 January 2018 the Ministry of Finance notified the Electoral Bond Scheme, 2018, creating bearer-like instruments for political donations sold through the State Bank of India. The Finance Act 2017 had amended the Representation of the People Act, Companies Act, and Income-tax Act to enable the scheme. In the causal graph this event strengthens Institutional Corruption, a driver that strengthens Political corruption index — a worsening welfare path.

Sources: [1][2]

Read the full account

On 2 January 2018 the Ministry of Finance notified the Electoral Bond Scheme, 2018, creating bearer-like instruments for political donations sold through the State Bank of India.

Context

The Finance Act 2017 had amended the Representation of the People Act, Companies Act, and Income-tax Act to enable the scheme. Modi’s government owned that cluster. Donors were not disclosed to the public. The Supreme Court’s 2024 judgment is a neighbouring later instrument.

The 15 February 2024 Supreme Court judgment is a neighbouring later court instrument about this scheme.

The Prime Minister of India is head of the Union Council of Ministers. Parliament writes statutes; the President assents; states and Union ministries implement; the Supreme Court can strike a scheme down. A prime minister can announce demonetisation, drive a bill, and take an oath. He does not write a UNFCCC depositary record, an ISRO telemetry file, or a Supreme Court judgment by himself.

Why it matters

The path is institutional corruption: a completed anonymous-donation channel is a dated opacity instrument in party finance.

Who was responsible

Contribution type and responsibility level for each recorded actor — not sole-author shorthand.

  • Narendra Modi

    Person

    Direct responsibility

    responsibility level 0.7 · verified

    His government notified the scheme after writing the 2017 statutory amendments. SBI sold bonds. Parties cashed them.

What changed

Fact → Driver → Indicator. Relationship strength orders the paths; it is not the observed indicator movement.

    1. FactElectoral Bond Scheme is notified
    2. strengthensDriverInstitutional Corruption
    3. strengthensIndicators (3)Political corruption index
    Worsening path

    impact weight 0.6 · Effect from 2 January 2018 · verified

    A completed anonymous political-donation channel increases expected opacity of party finance.

    1. FactElectoral Bond Scheme is notified
    2. weakensDriverDemocratic Resilience
    3. strengthensIndicators (3)Having a say in government
    Worsening path

    impact weight 0.45 · Effect from 2 January 2018 · verified

    Hidden donor identity reduces expected voter information about who funds parties.

    • Having a say in government

      via Democratic Resilience

      Worse

      Strengthens · Relationship strength 0.32 (weight 0.45 × strength 0.7)

      Observed

      29.8% of population aged 16-65 years · 8.13 below the normal line (2023)

      Worse than normal

      Two readings: 30.2% of population aged 16-65 years (2021) and 29.8% of population aged 16-65 years (2023).

      20212023

      Above normal = better

    • Clean elections index

      via Democratic Resilience

      Worse

      Strengthens · Relationship strength 0.2 (weight 0.45 × strength 0.45)

      Observed

      0.53 score from 0 to 1 · 0.34 below the normal line (2024)

      Worse than normal

      125 readings, 1900–2024: rose from 0.17 score from 0 to 1 to 0.53 score from 0 to 1.

      Above normal = better

    • WJP Rule of Law Index (global)

      via Democratic Resilience

      Worse

      Strengthens · Relationship strength 0.2 (weight 0.45 × strength 0.45)

      Observed

      0.55 index score (0-1) · 0.26 below the normal line (2024)

      Worse than normal

      Above normal = better

Evidence

The sources behind this fact and its verification state.

Verified2 sources on file
  1. 1.PIB (Ministry of Finance) — Government notifies the Electoral Bond Scheme, 2 January 2018Press Information Bureau of India · High credibility · verified
  2. 2.Reuters — India launches electoral bonds for political fundingReuters · High credibility · verified
What the sources establish

Press Information Bureau of India carries the official instrument or communique. Reuters records the same dated act independently.

Established: a 2 January 2018 notification of the Electoral Bond Scheme after the 2017 Finance Act amendments.

Not established: a unique later bribe coefficient, or that every bond purchaser committed a crime.

SBI sold bonds. Parties cashed them.. A later repeal, court stay, or successor order would be a different Fact with a different date. That pair identifies Electoral Bond Scheme is notified, not a later speech about Electoral Bond Scheme is notified.

Co-authors and later implementers named in Context remain on the file. If a later repeal, stay, or successor decree exists, it needs its own date and its own row. The contribution described on this Person row is limited to His government notified the scheme after writing the 2017 statutory amendments. SBI sold bonds. Parties cashed them. That limit is the alternative to treating office-holding as authorship of every later series. The Lok Sabha, Rajya Sabha, the President, the Reserve Bank, state governments, the Election Commission, and foreign counterparties share specific files. Allegation is not a completed judgment. A Supreme Court striking-down is not a criminal conviction. A scheme notification is not a unique rupee coefficient. A UN pledge is not a delivered emissions path.

Causal path

How this event connects to drivers and indicators in the graph.

  1. ActorNarendra Modi
  2. contributed toFactElectoral Bond Scheme is notified
  3. strengthensDrivers (2)Institutional Corruption
  4. strengthensIndicatorPolitical corruption index

Cite this page

Factrail. (2026). Electoral Bond Scheme is notified. Factrail. https://factrail.ai/facts/in-electoral-bonds-2018

https://factrail.ai/facts/in-electoral-bonds-2018

Accessed 15 October 2026.

By the Factrail desk · Method: how we source and score · Last reviewed

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