The first meeting of the National Traders’ Welfare Board (NTWB), constituted by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), was held on 5th December, 2023 at Vanijya Bhawan, New Delhi under the chairmanship of Shri Sunil J. Singhi.

Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade had constituted National Traders’ Welfare Board for the Welfare of Traders and their employees. NTWB has been constituted to advise the Government for the fulfilment of the following objectives:

• To identify policy measures to achieve the objective of welfare of traders and their employees.
• To suggest simplifications in the Acts and Rules applicable to traders.
• To make recommendations to reduce the compliance burden of traders.
• To improve access to funds for traders.
• To make recommendations regarding social security benefits like insurance, pension, healthcare etc., for traders and their employees.
• To make recommendations to address any other problems and issues of traders and their employees.

The Board consist of the following members:

• One Chairperson (Non-Official)
• Up to 5 members (Non-Official) having special knowledge of matters relating to the technical or other aspects of retail trade
• Up to 10 members (Non-Official) representing Trade Associations.
• One Non-Official member representing each State and Union Territory
• 9 Ex-officio representatives from Ministries/Departments.
• Joint Secretary, DPIIT (dealing with Internal Trade) shall be the Convener of the Board.

All non-official members nominated by the Central Government representing Trade Associations and States/UTs attended the meeting of the Board. The meeting was also attended by ex-officio members representing Nine Ministries Departments of Government of India.

Joint Secretary, DPIIT, Shri Sanjiv highlighted the role of all the members and the Board in resolving the issues related to Traders. He emphasised that the composition of the Board reflects its scope and strength, so that the wide-ranging issues relevant to the retail sector can be meaningfully addressed.

Chairman, NTWB, Shri Sunil J. Singhi in his address requested all non-official members to submit their suggestions for the welfare of traders, which shall be forwarded to relevant representatives of the Ministries/Departments for their effective resolution.

A brief presentation about the Open Network for Digital Network (ONDC) was also made before all the board members and they were requested to promote this initiative of the Government of India amongst the trader community across the country.

National Traders' Welfare Board to advise on trader welfare, simplify compliance and promote digital trade initiatives. The National Traders' Welfare Board (NTWB) met to advise the Government on trader welfare, including policy measures, simplification of Acts and Rules, reduction of compliance burden, improved access to finance, and recommendations on social security benefits; it comprises non-official and ex-officio members with the Joint Secretary (Internal Trade) of DPIIT as Convener, and members were asked to submit suggestions and promote the Open Network for Digital Commerce among traders.