Consumer Welfare Fund

The Consumer Protection Act, 1986 had set in motion a consumer movement in the country. The Consumer Protection Act, 2019 which came into effect from 20^th July 2020, and replaces the Consumer Protection Act of 1986 would give greater fillip to the ongoing consumer movement in the country.The Consumer Protection Act, 2019 provides for establishment of the Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) to promote, protect and enforce the rights of consumers as a class.  The Act provides for  simplifying the consumer dispute adjudication process in the Consumer Commissions, which include, among others, empowerment of the State and District Commissions to review their own Orders, enabling a consumer to file complaints electronically and file complaints in Consumer Commissions that have jurisdiction over the place of his residence, video conferencing for hearing and deemed admissibility of complaints if the question of admissibility is not decided within the specified period of 21 days. To simplify the adjudication process, mediation, as an Alternate Dispute Resolution mechanism, has been provided in the new Act. The Act introduces the concept of product liability and brings within its scope the product manufacturer, the product service provider and the product seller, for any claim for compensation.

To protect the interests of the consumers, the Govt. has launched the “Jago Grahak Jago” campaign through electronic and print media for consumer awareness and joint awareness campaigns on consumer rights and responsibilities in key sectors – Health, Food, Financial Services and other Departments for greater consumer awareness. The Government has set up a National Consumer Helpline and to cater to the needs of consumers, regional languages, six Zonal Consumer Helplines have also been set up at Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Kolkata, Jaipur, Guwahati & Patna.

The Consumers have been able to redress their grievances/ complaints against any defect in goods purchased or deficiencies in any services availed including any unfair/restrictive trade practices adopted, through specialized quasi-judicial agencies, now commonly known as ‘consumer commissions’, that have been established at the District level (District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission), State level (State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission) and National level (National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission). These consumer commissions have been mandated by the law to render simple, inexpensive and speedy adjudication of consumer complaints. The details of cases filed and disposed of by the Consumer Commissions in the last three years 2017, 2018, 2019 and current year is as follows-

NATIONAL CONSUMER DISPUTES REDRESSAL COMMISSION

STATE CONSUMER DISPUTES REDRESSAL COMMISSION

DISTRICT CONSUMER DISPUTES REDRESSAL COMMISSION

The Consumer Welfare Fund was created in 1992 with the objective of providing financial assistance to promote and protect the welfare of the consumers, create consumer awareness and strengthen consumer movement in the country. Financial assistance is provided to Voluntary Consumer Organisations / Institutions for undertaking consumer advocacy / awareness and to State Government / Union Territories for setting up State Consumer Welfare Fund. The details of funds provided to States / UTs for strengthening the consumer movement during each of the last three years and the current year, State / UT-wise is as follows-

GRANTS RELEASED TO STATE GOVERNMENTS UNDER CONSUMER WELFARE FUND

Financial Year 2017-18

Financial Year 2018-19

Financial Year 2019-20

Financial Year 2020-21: Nil

This information was given in a written reply by the Union Minister of State for Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, Shri Danve Rao saheb Dadarao in Lok Sabha today.

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APS/SG/MS