Commerce Ministry Warns Welfare Card Merchants Against Program Violations

A man from Prakon Chai district in Buriram province filed a complaint after his state welfare card credit limit was exhausted following a single 128-baht purchase at a village shop. Two days later, when he attempted to use the remaining balance, he discovered it had been fully depleted. He returned to the original merchant and learned that 1,000 baht had been held from his credit line. Although the merchant claimed the cardholder had agreed to this arrangement, a dispute arose when the merchant subsequently returned cash to the customer while deducting 99 baht as a tax fee, a claim the merchant later denied.

The Commerce Ministry of Buriram Province has clarified the incident as involving two separate violations. The first concerns the agreement between both parties to hold 1,000 baht against a 128-baht purchase—while this deviates from program rules, such flexibility in practice may be overlooked in certain cases to avoid repeated facial scans. However, the second issue is far more serious: allowing the merchant to return cash to the cardholder after deducting excess funds directly contradicts the welfare card program's purpose, which restricts spending to consumer goods only and prohibits cash conversion.

Should an investigation confirm these violations, the cardholder faces potential loss of welfare card benefits, and the merchant risks losing its authorization to accept state welfare card payments.