Hailed as one of the most powerful Armies in the world, the Indian Armed Forces is a class apart. This is the reason why each and every soldier deserves the utmost respect, compassion and special treatment. And even though no amount of money can repay what they do for our nation, they are given several benefits as a mark of respect for their job. One such benefit is the Army Canteen where one can purchase almost everything including a car at a subsidized rate. But unlike regular items buying a car from the Canteen is a slightly complicated process, which we will make simple for you in this article.
Know your eligibility
In order to purchase a car from the CSD canteen, you must be eligible to do so. If you are someone who is:
- Serving in the Indian Army, Navy, Air Force
- Defence sectors on payrolls from the Indian government
- Widows of defence officers & parents of deceased officers.
Over this, all commissioner officers, and ex-serviceman defence personnel can buy cars irrespective of ranks through CSD.
The CSD Canteen store comes under the aegis of the defence ministry. Unlike most items offered in the CSD Canteen, cars are an Against Firm Demand sale item. AFD items are items in which the CSD Canteen is a mere middleman between the dealer and consumers. So if you need to purchase a car from the CSD Canteen then you need to pay the total to the CSD, and then the car dealer will deliver the vehicle to your door.
Checkout: The Evolution Of Indian Army Vehicles (Part-1)
Rank-Based Maximum Car Value
For buying a car from the CSD Canteen, you need to know the maximum car value that is divided as per the Pay level.
Pay level 10-18
The purchase of your car from CSD can’t exceed Rs 15 lakh excluding GST and you can buy a car with a maximum cubic capacity of 2500cc. If a second car is being purchased then the gap between the two should be eight years. Serving civilian officers paid out defence estimates is also entitled to the same.
Pay level 7-9
At this rank, the purchase cannot exceed a maximum of Rs 7 lakhs and a maximum of 1400cc. The eligibility for purchase of the first car is at joining, Second at JCO promotion and third at retirement. If the JCO is directly enrolled, he can purchase the car after completing five years. But the gap between all purchases should be 8 years.
Pay level 3A-6
The minimum service for purchasing a car will be five years. For this service the car should be within Rs 6 lakhs and 1400cc engine. Also, one can purchase the first vehicle during service and the next one after retirement. The gap between both purchases should be eight years. If the beneficiary doesn’t avail of the above facility, his widow/dependent can also purchase the car.
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Steps to purchase the car via CSD Canteen
Here are the steps to purchase your car from the CSD Canteen:
Registration
The first step is to register on the AFD CSD portal. To do that, fill in all the details in the form like Employment status and Organization Chip No, etc. After that, wait for the confirmation of registration which generally happens within a day but can take up to two to three days.
After registration
After registration, you can log in to the website and start the next process like selecting your car. The next step is to find out the CSD dealer, which you can check from the website. Discuss the availability of the car and also if the dealer is listed in the CSD Canteen. Then book the car and wait for your car to get allotted to you. During that time you can save money or even process your loan application.
Documentation and Purchase Order Issuance
For the next step, you have to keep your documents ready for the CSD site. Some of the documents involved are the availability certificate from the dealer, payment receipt from the bank, loan sanction letter, canteen grocery number and chip number. After that, the car’s local purchase order will be issued within the next two to three days after verification of the documents. You have to collect the receipt from the nearest Canteen Station office. You have to submit the receipt to the dealer, after which you can get your car.
So this was all about buying a car from the CSD canteen. Stay pinned to the GoMechanic Blog for everything automotive.
I am Defence Civilian emplyees.