Covid-19 Support Fund: For Fdci Designers

We are enumerating below the Principle Eligibility Criteria for Application. However as the essence of the Fund is to help the community and its members, flexibility may be exercised to serve the larger purpose of the Designer community and its employees.

1. The Applicant should be a member of FDCI and based in India.

2. Eligible Applicants include non-profits, small businesses and the Applicant’s business should have an annual turnover less than INR 50 Lakhs.

3. The Applicant business should not have majority equity funding from a third party.

4. The Applicant must be facing financial hardship in the relevant business due to the current COVID-19 outbreak. This declaration by the Applicant will be considered as a self-declaration and in case of any inconsistent claims by the Applicant, FDCI reserves its right to reject the application including after the funds have been disbursed to the Applicant.

5. The application must specify the exact purpose for which the funds are required and the Applicant must only utilise the disbursed funds for such an exact purpose. The objective of FDCI is to safeguard small designers and their teams for livelihood and not beyond.

6. The Applicant who will be eligible for the fund should provide with a statement of proof which clearly indicates how the funds have been utilized or have been used to help their fellow workers.

7. Each Applicant can only apply once to avail their desired sum.

8. This fund is not for the purpose of legal expenses, personal expenses, travel expenses (either personal or in relation to a business) or any other activity that is not directly connected to the current COVID-19 outbreak.

Disclosures from FDCI

• Due to the fact that limited funding is available, requests made for funds beyond the stated purpose will not be considered.
• FDCI intends to keep this process transparent and hence, FDCI shall disclose the number of applicants who have applied. In the event the number of applications is disproportionate to the funds available, FDCI shall fairly disburse the funds pro-rata amongst the Applicants. All disclosures will be shared on the FDCI web site to ensure the transparency of the process.
• FDCI will be setting up an independent impartial panel comprising of non-beneficial member(s), to evaluate, authenticate and administer a fair review process for disbursement of funds. The names of the panel shall not be disclosed until disbursal is decided to ensure no one approaches the panel directly.
• The Applicants shall be mandatorily required to provide Self-attested documents supporting their financial history including documents showing the last 3 months bank account statement of the Applicant Company and the Applicant. Any other request for document shall be raised by the panel directly to the Applicant. if the applicant has multiple bank accounts, statements of each such account must be attached. The applicant will also attest that apart from this, in his or her personal capacity, there are no such surpluses that are capable of meeting salaries and other necessary basic expenses to run the business.

The amount claimed shall not be used for settlement of any other loan or due and shall be used strictly for business salaries and contingencies.

Once the funds have been disbursed to the Applicant, the Applicant must also provide a self-attested declaration providing details of the purpose and beneficiaries to whom the funds have been disbursed

• One of the essential factors that has prompted FDCI to set up this fund is to keep the continuity of the fashion business alive as also to support the relevant employers in this sector who are working with the designers and face key financial challenges due to the Coronavirus disruption. It is therefore essential that those availing of the fund must do everything to respect the cause and continuity of their employees and act in the spirit of the fund and in good faith.
• FDCI intends to complete the disbursement process in 10-15 working days once all the requested documents have been provided by the Applicant. FDCI may extend the disbursement process in case it’s working is in any way beyond its control extended with the current shutdown.
• Funds can be disbursed either through a cheque drawn in favour of the Applicant or in the form of a direct deposit into the Applicant’s bank account. The responsibility of providing correct bank details shall be on the Applicant.
• The bank account should mandatorily be an Indian bank account.
• The Applicants are requested to provide valid email addresses as also communication shall strictly be done electronically to honour the social distancing norms prescribed by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India.

Application Process

• The Applicants are requested to complete and submit the online application on csf@fdci.org and also upload the necessary documents showing the financial strength of the Applicant. The size of the documents must not be more than 5 MB in all.
• The applications will be reviewed by an independent panel.
• The final decision of the panel shall be communicated to the Applicant via email.

FDCI shall not be liable in case of any act done in good faith and all decelerations made to FDCI shall serve to indemnify FDCI, Board of Governors from any liability claims.