Consumer Welfare Fund | 05 Feb 2021
Why in News
During the ongoing session the Union Minister of State for Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution has informed the parliament about Consumer Welfare Fund (CWF).
Key Points
- About:
- It was set up under the Central Goods and Services Tax (CGST) Act, 2017. The consumer welfare fund rules of 1992 have been subsumed under the CGST rules, 2017.
- The Fund has been set up by the Department of Revenue (Ministry of Finance) and is being operated by the Department of Consumer Affairs (Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution).
- Objective: To promote and protect the welfare of the consumers. Few Examples:
- Creation of Consumer Law Chairs/ Centres of Excellence in Institutions/Universities of repute to foster research and training on consumer related issues.
- Projects for spreading consumer literacy and awareness.
- Other Related Inititatives:
- A pan-India consumer awareness campaign ‘JagoGrahakJago’ through print, electronic, outdoor and social media platforms.
- Celebration of World Consumer Rights Day/National Consumer Day.
- The Consumer Protection Act, 2019 has been implemented.
- The new Act covers e-commerce transactions, it allows electronic filing of complaints, hearing and/or examining parties through video-conferencing for procedural ease and reduces inconvenience.
- Government has set up a National Consumer Helpline (NCH) to handle the consumer grievances.
- Consumer awareness programmes are being organized through the network of Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) across the country for promoting the concept of standardization, certification and quality consciousness among consumers as well as manufactures.