Context: Recently,PM Modi appealed to the citizens, "Kindly contribute to the PM-CARES Fund. This Fund will also cater to similar distressing situations if they occur in the times ahead."

About (PM-CARES) Fund

• It stands for Prime Minister’s Citizen Assistance and Relief in Emergency Situations(PM-CARES)Fund
• It has been set up as a public charitable fund keeping in mind the need for having a dedicated national fund with the primary objective of dealing with any kind of emergency or distress situation, like posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, and to provide relief to the affected.
• Prime Minister is the Chairman of this trust and its Members include Defence Minister, Home Minister and Finance Minister.

Following modes of payments are available on the website pmindia.gov.in -

• Debit Cards and Credit Cards
• Internet Banking
• UPI (BHIM, PhonePe, Amazon Pay, Google Pay, PayTM, Mobikwik, etc.)
• RTGS/NEFT
• The account number for the PM CARES fund is 2121PM20202 with IFSC code SBIN0000691. The SWIFT code is SBININBB104 and the UPI id is pmcares@sbi.
• It also accepts micro-donations too. It will strengthen disaster management capacities and encourage research on protecting citizens.
• Further, the donations to this fund will be exempted from income tax under section 80(G).