Consumer Welfare Fund :
All credits to the Consumer Welfare Fund shall be made under rule 4(4) – Rule 8(1) of Refund Rules.
Any amount, having been credited to the Fund, ordered or directed as payable to any claimant by orders of the proper officer, appellate authority or Appellate Tribunal or court, shall be paid from the Fund.
Utilisation of Consumer Werfare Fund – Any utilisation of amount from the Consumer Welfare Fund under section 58(1) shall be made by debiting the Consumer Welfare Fund account and crediting the account to which the amount is transferred for utilization – Rule 8(3) of Refund Rules.
Committee to recommend utilization of Fund – The [Central/State] Government shall, by an order, constitute a Standing Committee with a Chairman, a Vice-Chairman, a Member Secretary and such other members as it may deem fit and the Committee shall make recommendations for proper utilisation of the money credited to the Consumer Welfare Fund for welfare of the consumers. The Committee shall meet as and when necessary, but not less than once in three months – Rules 8(3) and 8(4) of Refund Rules.
Who can apply for grant from Consumer Welfare Fund – Any agency or organisation engaged in consumer welfare activities for a period of three years registered under the Companies Act, 2013 (18 of 2013) or under any other law for the time being in force, including village or mandal or samiti level cooperatives of consumers especially Women, Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, or any industry as defined in the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947 (14 of 1947) recommended by the Bureau of Indian Standards to be engaged for a period of five years in viable and useful research activity which has made, or is likely to make, significant contribution in formulation of standard mark of the products of mass consumption, the Central Government or the State Government may make an application for a grant from the Consumer Welfare Fund – Rule 8(7) of Refund Rules.
A consumer may make application for reimbursement of legal expenses incurred by him as a complainant in a consumer dispute, after its final adjudication.
All applications for grant from the Consumer Welfare Fund shall be made by the applicant Member Secretary, but the Committee shall not consider an application, unless it has been inquired into in material details and recommended for consideration accordingly, by the Member Secretary – Rule 8(7) of Refund Rules.
Powers of Standing Committee – The powers of Standing Committee are as specified in rule 8(8) of Refund Rules.
Recommendations to GST Council for utilization of fund – The Central Consumer Protection Council and the Bureau of Indian Standards shall recommend to the GST Council, the broad guidelines for considering the projects or proposals for the purpose of incurring expenditure from the Consumer Welfare Fund – Rule 8(9) of Refund Rules.