Consumer Welfare Fund

A Consumer Welfare Fund (CWF) was created in 1992 with the objective of providing financial assistance and to promote and protect the welfare of consumers, create consumer awareness and strengthen the consumer movement in the country, particularly in rural areas. The fund, set up by the Department of Revenue under the Central Excise and Salt Act, 1944, is operated by the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution. The Central Excise and Salt Act, 1944 was amended in 1991 to enable the Central Government to create the CWF where the money, which is not refundable to the manufactures, etc., shall be credited.

The Consumer Welfare Fund Rules were framed and notified in 1992. Under these Rules, any agency/organisation engaged in consumer welfare activities for a period of three years and registered under the Companies Act, 1956 or any other law for the time being in force, village/mandal/samiti level cooperatives of consumers, industries State Governments, etc., are eligible for seeking financial assistance from the Fund. The total quantum of financial assistance on an individual application is limited to five lakh rupees and 10 per cent contribution is required to be made by the applicant.

Schemes Under CWF

Jagriti Shivir Yojana: An integrated awareness campaign titled Jagriti Shivir Yojana was launched in June 2001. The scheme aims at spreading consumer awareness at district level by holding camps, meetings, functions, etc., through the State Government and District Administration officials in association with local elected representatives. So far an amount Rs 34.5 lakh had been released to States/UTs in respect of 65 districts till 31 March 2004. Recently, a decision has been taken to enhance the amount of grant from Rs 50,000 to one lakh for each district for organising consumer awareness programme at the district level.

District Consumer Information Centre : A new scheme to set up a District Consumer Information Centre in each district of the country in a phased manner over a period of three years at a cost of Rs five lakh per Centre was launched in October 2000. These Centres are to be set up and run by Zilla Parishads/Voluntary Consumer Organisation of repute/educational institutions on a continuous basis. They are expected to raise consumer awareness and assist consumers in seeking redressal of their grievances. So far the scheme has been sanctioned for 96 districts in the Country.

Consumer Clubs : This scheme has been introduced recently according to which a Consumer Club shall be set up in each Middle/High/Higher Secondary School/College affiliated to a government recognised Board/University. A grant of Rs 10,000 per Consumer Club for each school/college is admissible under this Scheme. Till the end of March 2004, 1,755 consumer clubs have been sanctioned in the States of Andhra Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Tripura, West Bengal and NCT of Delhi.

Promoting Involvement of Research Institutions/Universities/Colleges, etc., in Consumer Protection and Welfare : This scheme has been launched recently to sponsor research and evaluation studies in the field of consumer welfare, to provide solution to the practical problems being faced by the consumers, to sponsor seminars/workshops/conferences on the consumer related issues and to have necessary inputs for formulation of policy/programme/scheme for the protection and welfare of the consumer. The Indian Institute of Public Administration (IIPA), New Delhi has been identified as the nodal organisation to administer this scheme.