PROVINCIAL ASSEMBLY OF SINDH

NOTIFICATION
KARACHI, THE 10TH DECEMBER, 2019

NO.PAS/LEGIS-B-27/2019- The Sindh Charities Registration and Regulation Bill, 2019 having
been passed by the Provincial Assembly of Sindh on 22nd November, 2019 and assented to by the
Governor of Sindh on 02nd December, 2019 is hereby published as an Act of the Legislature of
Sindh.

THE SINDH CHARITIES REGISTRATION AND REGULATION ACT, 2019.

SINDH ACT NO. XVI OF 2019

AN
ACT
to register and regulate charities and collection and utilization
of charitable funds.

WHEREAS it is expedient to make effective provisions for the

registration, administration and regulation of charities, fund-raising and
collection and utilization of charitable funds for charities and other
institutions or for any other purposes.

1. (1) This Act may be called the Sindh Charities Registration and Short title,
Regulation Act, 2019. extent and
commencement.
(2) It extends to whole of the Sindh

(3) It shall come into force at once.

2. In this Act, unless there is anything repugnant in the subject or Definitions.

context -
(a) “charitable fund” means the cash, kind, land, building,
animal, animal hides or anything having monetary value
and includes donation;

(b) “charitable purpose” means the purpose which is for –

(i) prevention and relief of poverty;

(ii) promotion of education and learning;

(iii) provision of health and lifesaving services;

(iv) community development;

(v) promotion of arts, culture and heritage;

(vi) promotion of human rights, conflict resolution and

reconciliation activities;
(vii) promotion of religious and racial harmony;

(viii) promotion of diversity and tolerance;

(ix) environmental protection and environmental improvement;

(x) relief of those in need of it by reason of youth, age, ill health,

or disability; and

(xi) such other purposes as the Commission may determine from

time to time;

(c) “charity” means any non-profit organization or

association of persons established for a charitable
purpose and includes the following:-

(i) an organization registered under the Voluntary Social

Welfare Agencies (Registration and Control) Ordinance,
1961 (XLVI of 1961);

(ii) an organization registered under the Societies Registration

Act, 1860 (XXI of 1860);

(iii) an organization registered under the Companies Act, 2017

(XIX of 2017) or under any other law for the time being in force;

(iv) an organization registered for charitable purposes under any

law for the time being in force; and

(v) a public or private trust;

(vi) local branches of foreign nonprofit organization but

excludes such foreign organizations operating in Pakistan to
whose charter, Pakistan is a signatory or where a protocol exists
with Government of Pakistan;

(d) “charity trustee” means a person or persons having the

general administration, control and management of a
charity or person nominated by the Commission;

(e) “collection” means appealing for, receiving, collecting

or attempting to collect any donations whether in
money or in kind on behalf of any charity;

(f) “funds collector” means a person or persons or charity

actually engaged in collecting donations for a charitable
purpose;

(g) “Commission” means the Commission established under

section 3;
(h) “declaration” means a declaration made by the charity,
person or persons associated with a charity of a
charitable fund, stating –

(i) the names and addresses of the charity person or persons

associated with a charity;

(ii) the estimated value of the funds collected from person or

persons;

(iii) the names and addresses of the funds collector;

(iv) the objects and purposes for which the fund shall be utilized;

(v) the names of the banks or financial institutions in whose

custody the charitable funds shall be kept; and

(vi) any other prescribed information;

(i) “Government” means Government of the Sindh;

(j) “Governing Body” means the executive council,

committee, trustees or other body, by whatever name
called, to whom, by the constitution of the charity, its
executes functions and the management of its affairs are
entrusted;

(k) “Officer” means the Monitoring and Evaluation officer

nominated by the Commission under section 14;

(l) “prescribed means prescribed by the rules and

regulations made under this Act;

(m) “Government Funds” means any grant in cash or in kind

or land allotted on concessional rate by Government,
Federal Government, other Provincial Governments and
Local authorities and also includes any subsidy funds
saved or gained from tax concessions or reduced utility
tariffs specific to the charity.

(n) “promoter” means a person, other than a charity,

responsible for collection, custody, administration and
accounting of the donations for a charitable fund or a
charitable purpose;

(o) “recipient” means an individual, institution, association,

society or undertaking benefiting from a charitable fund;

(p) “registering authority” means the registering authority

mentioned in section 11; and
(q) “rules and regulations” means the rules and regulations
made under this Act.

3. (1) As soon as after commencement of this Act, Government shall, Commission.

by notification in the official gazette, establish a Commission known as
the Charities Registration and Regulation Commission.

(2) The Commission shall consist of the Chairperson including two

members of Provincial Assembly nominated by the Speaker and
twelve (12) members having seven ex-officio members and five non-
official members as Government may notify in the official gazette.

(3) The non-official members shall be the persons who are known
for integrity expertise, experience and eminence, on such terms and
conditions as may be prescribed and until so prescribed, as the
Government may determine.

(4) Subject to the provisions of the Act, the Commission shall

discharge its functions, exercise its powers and conduct its proceedings
in the prescribed manner and until so prescribed in the manner the
Commission may determine.

(5) The term of the office of a non-official member shall be three

years and shall not serve for more than two consecutive terms.

(6) A Member shall perform such functions as may be prescribed

or assigned by the Commission.

4. (1) The Minister, Advisor or Special Assistant for Social Welfare Chairperson of the
shall be the Chairperson of the Commission or in his absence any Commission.
other person nominated by the Chief Minister.

(2) The Chairperson shall perform such functions as assigned under

this Act or the mandate of the Commission.

5. (1) Government shall designate one of the Director General in Director General.
BPS-20 from Social Welfare Department as Director General of the
Commission.

(2) The Director General shall also be the Member/Secretary of

the Commission and shall be responsible for the administration and
implementation of the decisions of the Commission.

(3) The Director General shall also be responsible for day to day
affairs of the Commission and shall perform such other functions as
may be prescribed or assigned by the Commission.

(4) Head Office of the Director General of the Commission shall

be at Karachi and the Director General may establish sub-offices at
such place(s) in the Province as Commission may determine.
(5) The existing officers and staff of the department shall
perform such functions and duties as may be assigned by the Social
Welfare department, for the purpose of this Act.

6. (1) The Commission shall perform such functions as may be Functions of the
necessary for accomplishing the purposes of the Act. Commission.

(2) Without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing powers,

the Commission shall –

(a) maintain public trust and confidence in charities;

(b) register, regulate and sanction fund raising of the

charities;

(c) protect charities and the beneficiaries thereof;

(d) ensure that charities and promoters comply with their

legal obligations in exercising control and management
of the administration of the charitable funds;

(e) issue necessary regulation for the charities.

(f) ensure effective use of charitable funds;

(g) institute a mechanism including central database for

effective monitoring and evaluation;

(h) hold, if necessary , an enquiry into the affairs of a

charity or charitable funds;

(i) establish a central database and mention a website of

commission.

(j) receive and examine annual audit report of a charity or

charitable fund;

(k) conduct or cause to be conducted special audit of a

charity or charitable fund;

(l) issue guidelines for administration of charities for proper

accounting, management and utilization and all affairs;

(m) issue such directions to any other person, department

and agency for carrying out purposes of this Act; and

(n) perform such other related functions as the Government

may assign.

(3) The Commission may delegate any of its functions as may deem
appropriate in the prescribed manner.
(4) The meetings of the Commission shall be called by the
Chairperson as and when necessary; provided that the Commission
shall meet at-least once in three months.

(5) The quorum of meeting shall be seven members, a fraction

being counted as one and in case of a tie, the Chairperson shall have a
casting vote.

7. The Commission may, for efficient performance of its Appointment of

functions, appoint advisors, consultants and experts possessing Consultants, Advisors
requisite professional, technical qualifications and experience on and Experts.
such terms and conditions as may be prescribed by rules and until
such rules are framed as determine by the Commission.

8. (1) The Commission shall maintain a Register of Charities in such Register of Charities.
manner as may be prescribed and until so prescribed as the Commission
may determined.

(2) The Register shall contain –

(a) the name of every registered charity; and

(b) such other particulars of, and such other information

relating to, every such charity as may be prescribed or as
the Commission may determine.

(3) The Commission shall maintain a website and publish on its

website such information in the Register as may be necessary to create
general awareness about the work and conduct of charities.

9. (1) Irrespective of registration of charity under any law, every Charities to be

charity shall get itself registered with the Commission not later than registered.
such date as the Government may, by notification, determine.

(2) A charity shall not collect charitable funds or seek collection of

the charitable funds unless it is registered under this Act.

10. (1) Every non-profit organization required to be registered under Application for
this Act shall provide to the registering authority the declaration registration.
regarding the objectives of the charity, the sources of income of the
charity and the nature of its spending, and such other documents or
information as may be prescribed.

(2) The registering authority may, for reasons to be recorded in

writing, refuse registration of an organization if in its opinion the
objects of charity stated in declaration are not in consonance with the
charitable purpose or for any other reasonable cause.
11. For the purpose of registration of a charity under this Act, the Registering Authority.
Commission shall assign the functions of registration to the Director
General for the entire Province of Sindh.

12. The Registration Authority may, after affording an Cancellation of

opportunity of hearing, suspend or cancel the registration of a registration.
charity, if the Registration Authority is satisfied that-

(a) the organization or association of persons is not

furthering any charitable purpose; or

(b) the charity has committed a violation of the provisions

of the Act or the rules.

13. (1) A promoter shall not make or solicit collection for any charitable Prohibition on
fund unless before the start of the collection, he makes a declaration in collection.
respect of the intended collection and delivers the declaration to the
Commission, in writing.

(2) The Commission may refuse to sanction the collection under this
section if it is not satisfied with regard to good faith of the promoter or
persons proposing to make the collection, or if the authority is not
satisfied with regard to the proper custody of the funds or the due
administration of the fund for the purpose for which it is to be collected.

(3) The Commission may sanction the collection subject to such

conditions as it may consider necessary for ensuring the proper custody
of the fund and its due administration and utilization for the objects and
purposes of the charitable fund.

(4) If the Commission sanctions the collection, it shall issue or

cause to be issued a certificate for a specified period, to the promoter in
such form and manner as the Commission may, by regulations,
prescribe, authorizing him to make the collection through identified
collectors and for identified recipients.

14. The Commission may request to Chief Secretary/Chief Monitoring and

Minister or as the case may be to nominate any officer of the Evaluation Officer.
Department of Government who shall be a civil servant of BS-19/20 to
carry out the function of monitoring and evaluation.

15. (1) If, after evaluation or audit, the Commission is satisfied that any Violation.
charity has failed to comply with the obligations envisaged under this
Act, the Commission may –
(a) suspend or cancel the registration of that charity under
this Act; and

(b) impose fine, not exceeding one million rupees, on the

charity or organization.
(2) The Registering Authority shall not take any action under sub-
section (1) unless the charity or organization is afforded a reasonable
opportunity of hearing and showing cause against the proposed action.

16. The Chairman or the Minister for Parliamentary Affairs or as Annual Report.
the case may be, shall lay the annual report before the Provincial
Assembly.

17. (1) The Commission may appoint a charity trustee or any officer or Power to appoint
office-bearer of a charity within a period of six months, if such charity charity trustee.
fails to remove a trustee or appoint a new trustee or officer where –

(a) a trustee or officer has been convicted of an offence

involving moral turpitude, dishonesty or deception; or

(b) trustee has been adjudged bankrupt; or

(c) the conduct of a trustee or officer is detrimental to the

cause of the charity owing to mismanagement or other
reasons as may be determined by a court or the
Commission.

(2) The Commission shall provide an opportunity of defense and

hearing to the charity or the person likely to be affected by the decision
of the Commission.

18. (1) A charity trustee shall – Obligations of Charity

trustees.
(a) comply with the terms and conditions of the governing
instrument which envisages the establishment of the
charity trustee with the relevant authority;

(b) coordinate with the other charities operating in the

respective domain for purposes of consolidated efforts at
achieving the objectives and targets under this Act; and

(c) immediately inform the Commission about any change

in the constitution document of the charity.

19. (1) A charity trustee shall be responsible for – Fiduciary

(a) controlling the assets of the charity; responsibilities of
charity trustees.
(b) protection, proper investment and utilization of the
charitable fund;

(c) ensuring that the charitable funds are not used for any
purpose other than the declared purpose;

(d) ensuring that the charitable funds or property is not

misused or allowed to go waste as a result of
mismanagement or for any other reasons;
(e) the sale, lease or other disposal of the charity property
and insurance of the charity property; and

(f) ensuring that no unnecessary encumbrances are created

on the charity property.

(2) A charity trustee shall inform to the commission if any action is

done under sub-section (1).

20. (1) The charity trustees shall ensure that accurate accounting records Accounting records of
are maintained in respect of the charity. a charity.

(2) The accounting records shall mention all the transactions of the
charity and shall also reflect on the financial position of the charity.

(3) The accounting records shall in particular contain –

(a) entries pertaining to all sums of money received and
expended by the charity each day;

(b) matters in respect of which the receipt and expenditure

takes place; and

(c) the details of assets and liabilities of the charity.

(4) The charity trustees shall preserve the accounting records for
such period as may be prescribed.

(5) The charity trustee shall prepare annual statement of accounts.

(6) If the amount given to a charity in a calendar month exceeds fifty

thousand rupees, the charity shall deposit the amount in a dedicated
bank account and shall provide information of the bank account to the
Commission.

21. The charity trustees shall ensure that accounting records of a Accounting of
charitable fund are maintained as required under the Act. charitable funds.

22. (1) The Commission may, under exceptional circumstances and Audit and Inspection.
in addition to regular annual audit, for reasons to be recorded, direct
that the accounts of a charity shall be audited or re-audited by a
specified auditor at the expenses of the charity or the person who has
applied for the special audit of the charity.

(2) The Commission or any officer authorized by it may inspect or

cause to be inspected any accounts maintained under this Act or the
rules.

23. (1) A charity, promoter, collector or recipient of a charitable fund Misapplication of

shall not use the fund for any purpose or object other than the purpose funds.
or object for which it was collected except with the prior permission of
the Commission.
(2) If any part of any donations collected for any charitable fund is
used for any purpose or object other than the purpose for which it was
collected, or is otherwise misapplied or misappropriated in any manner,
every person concerned with the collection or administration of the
fund, whether as a promoter, collector or a recipient, shall unless he
proves that the misuse, misapplication or misappropriation, shall be
deemed to have committed the misuse, misapplication or
misappropriation of the charitable fund.

24. (1) Any person who dishonestly or fraudulently tampers with, Penalty.
conceals or destroys any record pertaining to the collection of any
charitable fund to which this Act applies shall be deemed to have
contravened the provisions of this Act.

(2) A person who contravenes any provision of this Act or the rules
or of any order made, direction given or condition imposed under this
Act shall be liable to punishment of imprisonment for a term which may
extend to one year but which shall not be less than six months and
fine which shall not be less than fifty thousand rupees or more than
one hundred thousand rupees.

(3) The Commission may appoint an administrator to take over

administrative control and management of a charity in a prescribed
manner.

Provided that such appointment may not exceed a period of

more than six months.

25. (1) An offence under the Act shall be cognizable and bailable. Cognizance and
summary trial.
(2) A Magistrate of the First Class shall conduct the trial of an
offence under this Act in accordance with the provisions of Chapter
XXII of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1989 (V of 1898) relating to
the summary trials.

Provided that the summary trial under this section shall be

concluded within a period of six months.

26. (1) Subject to sub-section (2), the Commission or any person Compounding of
specifically authorized in this behalf by the Commission may, at any offence.
stage, compound an offence under this Act subject to the deposit of
administrative penalty which shall not be less than fifty thousand
rupees.
(2) The offence under this Act shall not be compoundable if the
accused had been previously convicted under this Act or his previous
offence had been compounded by the Commission or the officer
authorized by the Commission or is under trial under this Act.

27. A court trying an offence under this Act may order the Confiscation.
confiscation or recovery of any fund wrongfully collected or misapplied
by any person in contravention of this Act.
28. (1) Any person aggrieved by an order or direction of the Appeal.
Registering Authority may, within thirty days of the order, prefer an
appeal to the Commission.

(2) Government shall, on the recommendation of the Commission,

constitute the committee for the purpose of redressal of grievance in the
prescribed manner.

29. The provisions of the Act shall take precedence over other Precedence
laws for the time being enforce.

30. (1) The Government may, by notification, make rules to carry out Rules.
the purposes of the Act.

(2) Without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing powers, the

rules may provide for –

(a) the form and contents of declarations and the

verification of statements made in a declaration;

(b) the period for which declarations shall remain in force

and the manner in which the period may be extended or
terminated;

(c) the form and manner in which receipts for donations

may be given and the maintenance of proper vouchers
for purposes of the accounts;

(d) the maintenance of proper books of account and the

auditing of the accounts from a reputable accounting
firm as per volume of their accounts classified under
the rules made thereunder.

(e) the periodical submission of statements of accounts;

(f) the supervision, inspection and examination of accounts;

and

(g) the payment of charges for forms of declarations and

certificates;

(h) the procedure for proper monitoring and evaluation of

functioning of charity;

(i) the procedure for appointment of administrator and

arbitrator.

31. Subject to this Act and the rules, the Commission may by Regulations.
notification, frame regulations to give effect to the provisions of the
Act.
32. No prosecution, suit or other legal proceedings shall be Indemnity.
instituted against any person in respect of anything which is, in good
faith, done or intended to be done under the Act.

33. Subject to section 28, Government may, at any time, on its own Revision.
motion or on the application of any aggrieved person, revise any
decision or direction of the Commission and pass such order in
accordance with the Act as it may deem proper.

34. (1) The provisions of the Charitable Funds (Regulation of Repeal and savings.
Collections) Act, 1953 (XXXI of 1953) to the extent of Province of
Sindh, is hereby repealed.

(2) Notwithstanding the repeal of the Charitable funds

(Regulation of Collections) Act 1953 (XXXI of 1953) under sub-
section (1), anything done or action taken under the repealed Act, shall
have the effect as if the thing is done or action is taken under the Act.
____

BY ORDER OF THE SPEAKER

PROVINCIAL ASSEMBLY OF SINDH

G.M.UMAR FAROOQ
SECRETARY
PROVINCIAL ASSEMBLY OF SINDH