What is Consumer Welfare Fund?

Last updated on Jun 7, 2022

The overall objective of the Consumer Welfare Fund(CWF) is to provide financial assistance to promote and protect the welfare of the consumers and strengthen the consumer movement in the country1. There are certain rules in place which govern the use of the CWF. Some of them are2:

  • Consumer awareness projects with wide coverage and adopting best international practices will receive priority for funding from CWF.
  • The Government will focus on rural and disadvantaged consumers and schemes to protect them when using the CWF. For this, projects relating to rural consumers and their empowerment3, and such organizations that work for rural consumers (which also have large participation of women and socially marginalized groups)4, will receive special focus.
  • The CWF is also to be disbursed among the States and Union Territories, to create regional Consumer Welfare Funds, to fund welfare activities.
  • There is a marked effort towards contributing to the CWF through the corporate social responsibility funds that are earmarked by companies.
  • Innovative projects for consumer awareness and education, setting up training and research facilities for consumer education, projects relating to the rural consumer empowerment, Consumer Clubs in schools/colleges/Universities, setting up of Consumer Guidance Bureau at the State/ regional level for counselling and guidance, product testing labs, creating Centres of Excellence in Universities, meeting expenses on advocacy and class action suits, etc. get priority.

Applying for financial aid under the CWF

Calls for proposals seeking financial aid from the Consumer Welfare Fund are online, twice a year usually in the months of January & July. The appropriate notice and format of inviting proposals will be issued and published on the Consumer Department website. You can also download the application form for grants from Consumer Welfare Fund from the Consumer Department website5.

However, the Appraisal Committee can reject an application, for reasons including not meeting the eligibility criteria, incomplete forms trying to receive funds for the same venture through multiple Government forums, etc6.

 

  1. Section II, Consumer Welfare Fund Guidelines, 2019[]
  2. Section III, Consumer Welfare Fund Guidelines, 2019[]
  3. Section IV, Consumer Welfare Fund Guidelines, 2019[]
  4. Section V, Consumer Welfare Fund Guidelines, 2019[]
  5. Section VIII, Consumer Welfare Fund Guidelines, 2019[]
  6. Department of Consumer Affairs, Consumer Welfare Guidelines, https://consumeraffairs.nic.in/sites/default/files/file-uploads/guidlines-2014/CWF%20Guidelines%202014.pdf. []

How useful was this post?

Click on a star to rate it!

Average rating 0 / 5. Vote count: 0

No votes so far! Be the first to rate this post.

Please share your feedback about this post!

Sharing feedback will help us improve our content. Tell us how!

If you want to keep your feedback confidential, please mention it in your feedback. If you have a question, please ask us in the comments or Ask Nyaaya sections.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Have a question you want to ask our legal experts?

Related Resources

Consumer Complaint Forums

The consumer protection law specifies relevant authorities and complaint forums that can be approached if consumer rights are violated.

Punishments for Consumer Rights Violations

The Central Consumer Protection Authority has the power to penalize an individual or entity for violating consumer rights.

Mediation as a mode of Consumer Dispute Settlement

The Consumer Protection Act, 2019 has introduced mediation, when there is a scope of settlement between the parties.

Procedure to file a consumer complaint

A complaint can be filed electronically to the Integrated Grievance Redressal Mechanism portal (INGRAM), or offline with the consumer protection authorities such as district or state commissions to seek relief for consumer rights violations.

Types of Consumer Complaints

Complaints may be filed regarding e-services, misleading advertisements, restrictive trade practices, spurious/defective goods, food etc.

Consumer Protection Authorities

The Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) aims to promote, protect and enforce the rights of consumers collectively.