Presidential Candidates’ Spending Capped at Rs. 1.87 Billion
An extraordinary gazette was issued, outlining new regulations on campaign spending for candidates in the upcoming presidential election.
Each candidate contesting at the Presidential Election - 2024 to elect the President is authorized to incur a sum not exceeding of Rs.109.00 (one hundred and nine rupees) only per elector for the purpose of election propaganda activities.
Accordingly, the maximum amount that could be incurred by a candidate is Rs 1,868,298,586.00 (one billion, eight hundred and sixty eight million, two hundred and ninety eight thousand, five hundred and eighty six rupees) only
The notification specifies that 60 percent of the total expenditure can be directly spent on the presidential candidate, while the remaining 40 percent can be allocated to the candidate's political party or group.
The extraordinary gazette, released last night, falls under Section 03 of the Regulation of Election Expenditure Act, No. 03 of 2023.
It mandates that all presidential candidates must submit their election expenditure reports to the Election Commission within 21 days following the announcement of the election results.