NOT Easy to Do Business
Primary tabs
Secondary tabs
| # | Submitted | User | IP address | It was | Sector / Industry | State / UT | City | Response-time of officials | Number of documents to be submitted | Availability of information about the process | Overall Rating | It was an attempt to | Other | The problem was(desc) | Other cause | Details of experience | Advice for others | Share my story with | Name | Contact no | Privacy Policy | Contact me | Display it | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 31 | 16 Nov 2016 - 17:52 | Anonymous (not verified) | 203.122.16.122 | Not Easy to Do Business | Financial Advisory | Maharashtra | Pune | 2/5 | 1/5 | 2/5 | 2/5 | Other | Filing tenders | Can’t find information |
I was told it would take five years for me to get a permanent certificate for my financial services company and until then a temporary certificate would be issued. I bribed Rs. 6,000 and got the registration certificate in three days. My father already had one manufacturing business and intended to open a new business. Since he did not have the time to run around for completing the formalities, we had to hire an accountant and he charged us Rs. 40,000. Like most of the other entrepreneurs, even I had experienced what it really meant to go to bureaucrats and experienced red tape. I had to go various people for ‘n’ number of signatures and stamps. There were so many corrections I had to make in multiple documents to get my company registered. I don’t think there is anything called as – ‘single window clearance’. My father had to set up a chemical plant and had to wait for a year to get environmental clearances. He also had to pay bribes along the way and despite wait for a year. How do we make in India if we are not allowed to make in India? There is no clear knowledge about how to start a company. Most of the people are of the opinion that a lot of money is required to start a company. I started my company with Rs. 8,000 out of which Rs. 6,000 was a bribe. Even if people have some really fascinating ideas, they don’t start a company because they think that it will cost them a lot. The tendering process of the government is flawed and corrupt. It is always given to people who are ‘known’ to the government officials. Once when we managed to get a contract on a fair basis because we really did quote low prices, we were called and blasted by an official. He asked us how we could take up the project when we had no clue about the place where the project was going to start. He finally introduced us to an agent who had taken care of all the previous people who had managed to get the contracts. This is my experience of Pune, Maharashtra. I have no clue how does it work anywhere else in the country. |
It doesn’t take a lot of money to start up a business. So don’t be hesitant if you are thinking about the money and finances are your only concern. | Senior Department Officials | Jason Richardson | - | slamdunk2003@yahoo.com | I have read and I agree with the Privacy Policy mentioned below | Yes | ||
| 34 | 16 Nov 2016 - 18:01 | Anonymous (not verified) | 203.122.16.122 | Not Easy to Do Business | Marketing | Maharashtra | Pune | 2/5 | 4/5 | 4/5 | 3/5 | Register the business | Can’t find information |
I tried to register a marketing firm in Pune, in order to kick-start my career. The process itself took hardly two weeks from when I applied, but it involved a lot of running around for my family. Since I am a resident of Delhi, most of my documents were back at home. Thus, my family had to post them. Fortunately, they arrived on time. But I had to submit two identification proofs, so I had to get a driving licence made within a month solely for the purpose of identification, since I did not possess an Aadhar or a voting card – I just had a my passport. One of the main issues I had was the lack of information that was available- which office do I go to. Can I register a name in Pune and use it later in Delhi? Which desk was I supposed to go to? What are the working hours? None of the information was available online, so my father suggested that I hire a CA to register it for me. After hiring the CA, the process was very smooth. I don’t understand why I had to hire the CA, though. This is the problem with our country- the requirement of middlemen to conduct business. I think this is the worst problem that hampers the conduct of business in our country- it should definitely be made easier for citizens to start a business if we wished to! |
Hire a CA or legal experts so that your processes of registering the business and other formalities are faster and smoother. | Media | Tushar | 8860456044 | tushar.madan@tmad.co.in | I have read and I agree with the Privacy Policy mentioned below | Yes | |||
| 37 | 21 Nov 2016 - 17:53 | Prashant | 203.122.16.122 | Not Easy to Do Business | IT | Karnataka | Bengaluru | 2/5 | 1/5 | 1/5 | 1/5 | Register the business | Can’t find information |
Everything is difficult if you are starting from scratch to set up a business. • Finding office space: Not everyone has big enough a house or circumstances to incubate the organisation at home. • Something as simple as commuting: It is hazardous to drive, and arduous to take public transport. • Government policies/banking system: Something as simple a company formation - if you got for private limited model, the Registration Of the Company expenses require a fair amount. Cheaper option is to register company under partnership act (only if you have a friend who is a CA/CS/Lawyer and will help you out). Again, if your company is under partnership firm, banks won't give out unsecured loans/ credit cards to you/ your employees. This is the reason many good and hard working employees can leave the job with your company and go anywhere else where they get better facilities. • No regard for Intellectual Property Rights or its implementation: Almost illiterate cops or Economic Offences Wing Officials dare not bothered about whether stealing/copying code/project plans/content is a big deal! • There are multiple overlapping compliance checklists that will take you ages to get a grip on. • Rampant corruption: To set up a meeting, to get anything registered, to not stand in the line for hours- every little thing requires a bribe to get your work done. This can go on forever. There is no way that we can ever reach the competence levels of foreign countries. I’ve lost hope in our system! |
It's a difficult process. If you have the time, money, and energy, you might just be able to start your own business. Hence you need immense patience till things fall in place. | Keep it Anonymous | Anonymous | 88189456876 | shrawanbanerjee@gmail.com | I have read and I agree with the Privacy Policy mentioned below | Yes | |||
| 42 | 23 Nov 2016 - 18:40 | Prashant | 203.122.16.122 | Not Easy to Do Business | Management Consultancy | Delhi | Hauz Khas | 4/5 | 3/5 | 1/5 | 2/5 | Register the business | Can’t find information |
Coming from the UK, the whole procedure went a little quicker than I expected. We hired a lawyer who handled all of the legal work. As per the experience, the lack of information regarding how to set up a business here is terrible. In the UK, every piece of information is on the government’s website, which makes the whole procedure very simple, whereas in India, it is so difficult to understand on your own! I would count this alone as a barrier to entry. Every step had to be explained to me by the lawyer or the accountant. And I had no option but to trust my lawyer. There are many grey areas regarding taxes and you don’t know surely what you need to do. Some of our clients are international and we receive certain fees for our expertise in dollars. Hence my accountant advised me to pay certain taxes since but he said it wasn’t a rule and I wasn’t sure whether I needed to pay that tax or not. The procedure could be set up online and that way it could be much easier and less complicated for people like me to go through the procedure. |
To newer entrepreneurs, I would advise you to pick out good lawyers and accountants, and trust them. They know this system best, and work very well with it. In India, such services are quite reasonable in terms of costs – back home; the legal fees alone are too high! Lastly, I’d advise them to get all their paperwork in order before they start, which would make the registration and paperwork a lot faster. |
Both | Laura Quinn | 98107 76929 | laura.quinn@doonething.in | I have read and I agree with the Privacy Policy mentioned below | Keep me updated about responses to my report and experience. | Yes | ||
| 56 | 9 Dec 2016 - 16:30 | Anonymous (not verified) | 42.106.53.253 | Not Easy to Do Business | Medical | Gujarat | Vadodara | 3/5 | 3/5 | 3/5 | 3/5 | Register the business | Can’t find information |
I have had 5 years of experience of helping my cousin in his medical shop In Vadodra itself. And I thought of opening my own. But it was not an easy task. I could not find any information about how do I go about it. It was quite difficult and a task to get my business registered. I had to consult a third party despite of having 5 years of experience. |
Think twice before you start a new business. Think whether you get profit from it. | Keep it Anonymous | Anonymous | 8141295566 | omsaimedical28@gmail.com | I have read and I agree with the Privacy Policy mentioned below | Keep me updated about responses to my report and experience. | Yes | ||
| 57 | 9 Dec 2016 - 17:05 | Prashant | 203.122.16.122 | Not Easy to Do Business | Laundry | Maharashtra | Mumbai | 3/5 | 2/5 | 1/5 | 2/5 |
Register the business Get permits and licenses under environmental laws Get registration and licenses under labour laws Pay taxes File returns under labour laws, environmental laws, tax laws, etc. |
Can’t find information | There is no guide book which can direct you to do things. The procedures and processes are complicated. This leads to unnecessary waste of time and a hole in your pocket. The laws are confusing and one has to research a lot beforehand. | Kindly do a good research of what all is required and where you can get them, it might help. Hiring a lawyer or an expert is utmost advised. | Both | Akshay Karkhanis | 9930754656 | mailaku.akshay@gmail.com | I have read and I agree with the Privacy Policy mentioned below | Keep me updated about responses to my report and experience. | Yes | ||
| 65 | 14 Dec 2016 - 17:12 | Prashant | 203.122.16.122 | Not Easy to Do Business | IT | Delhi | Gurgaon | 4/5 | 3/5 | 1/5 | 3/5 | Register the business | Can’t find information |
I set up an IT firm earlier this year. My company was a small one, and we worked out of our house in Gurgaon, so we just had to register the company. The whole process for the category I was applying under was a digitised process, so I was pleasantly surprised. However, I did have to go to the office to submit my documents - I didn't understand why couldn't that procedure be digitised as well! One could easily scan and submit the required PDF files. However, my main issue was the lack of availability of information. If someone has to start a business, a simple Google search should be helpful and enough. I couldn't find any information myself, so I had to call up another friend who had set up a similar business couple of years ago. However, from what he told me, the process has become much simpler, so kudos to the government on cutting the red tape - I just wish they would have advertised it better! |
Ask someone who has already registered business in the field, they should be able to help you out, or hire a lawyer who will make the process easier for you. | Senior Department Officials | Shyam Mohan | - | abcd@gmail.com | I have read and I agree with the Privacy Policy mentioned below | Yes | |||
| 82 | 16 Dec 2016 - 16:26 | Prashant | 203.122.16.122 | Not Easy to Do Business | IT | Delhi | New Delhi | 3/5 | 2/5 | 1/5 | 2/5 |
Register the business Trade outside state/ country |
Can’t find information |
I started an IT firm, but it fizzled out within two months. I shortly left the country, and am currently working in San Francisco. Here are the reasons why it didn't work out, and probably never will: 1) Over-demanding yet non-competent talent pool. Bad work ethics. So many graduates, but none employable. In contrast, in Phillipines, you have technically qualified people with no degrees who have tons of freelance work to show as their experience. 2) One employee stole our circuit designs and disappears. Another faked his qualifications. Another got run over while transporting one of our items, we gave compensation to his family but couldn't find the culprit. Installed cameras in trucks where between each state- the police ended up demanding something from truckers! 3) Accounting is really confusing and messy. Border between legal and illegal is very very thin. One of my over enthusiastic employee bribed the customs official and later asked for compensation from the company - imagine what kind of accounting magics you can employ to cover it up among extremely ambiguous and contradictory laws ? Most accountants are part time money launderers. If you are an honest soul, this country isn't for you- sorry, no other way to put it! 4) We imported materials. Customs took items worth double digit lakhs as hostage for stupid reasons. Not much problems in Phillipines or Indonesia. Don't even want to begin talking about the pain we had to go through to export stuff! 5) Clients (read: Scammers) who don't pay, drying up our cash flow. Our clients were renowned businesses in India. 6) Suppliers who take money upfront and don't deliver (read: scammers 2.0). Also renowned businesses in India. 7) Government tenders - bribes, very short notice, unrealistic conditions, money hold up. They expect us to maintain their servers when they don't even have electricity, and blame us for the results of this power outage despite giving recommendations to buy a backup generator. When will babus know the difference between IT and power companies ? 9) Insurance guys who had weird clauses only found in this country. Never trust them - this includes government insurance companies who expect something for validating claims 10) Regulations, Licenses, Permits, Certificates (read: babudom and bribery). Documentation and paperwork is cumbersome and demotivating. 11) Venture Capitalists don't have much funds (compared to Singapore or Canada), inexperienced and hate anything about hardware or technology based businesses (probably they are aware of how risky it was to start in India) - will only prefer e-commerce intermediaries and IIT mafias. The amounts they are willing to invest was less than what I saved working for 3 months in the West. |
Move elsewhere, India isn't the place to do business. | Keep it Anonymous | Anonymous | - | abcd@gmail.com | I have read and I agree with the Privacy Policy mentioned below | Yes | |||
| 84 | 16 Dec 2016 - 17:08 | Anonymous (not verified) | 203.122.16.122 | Not Easy to Do Business | Clothing | Maharashtra | Pune | 2/5 | 1/5 | 1/5 | 1/5 | Register the business | Can’t find information |
In short, it was a nightmare. I tried to start a clothing brand late last year, thinking that I would conduct a fair business in Pune. I wanted to register my company legally, and pay my taxes duly, irrespective of how my business went. But after going through this procedure, I realised why people don't take the white route! It takes a ton of time to get everything sorted, and more so to roll out. Getting clearances from these babus was one thing, and sustaining the business entirely another. It seems like they have all the time in the world to harass us, but not to help us. I am thoroughly disillusioned with the state of the business sector in this country. Though my business is fairly successful now, I can never forget the hell I have been through to make it till here. I can only hope it is the not the same for others. |
Make sure you're wearing running shoes to the government offices, and try and keep a CA handy. | Senior Department Officials | Kavya | 9649860773 | kavvya.t@gmail.com | I have read and I agree with the Privacy Policy mentioned below | Yes | |||
| 87 | 19 Jul 2017 - 13:33 | Anonymous (not verified) | 125.16.128.202 | Not Easy to Do Business | Sanitation | Uttar Pradesh | Varanasi | 2/5 | 1/5 | 1/5 | 1/5 | Acquire land | Can’t find information |
Under Swatchh Bharat mission, the municipal corporations are supposed to build and operate public toilets and community toilets. Even after identification of land, the allocation process is not very clear at district levels. The MC should identify land and make it readily available for interested parties to built and operate toilets by CSR funds. There is no clear mechanism/process/instruction how to apply for land for building toilets. hence it took us more than 6 months to get land. |
Under SBM, there should be clear process prescribed to MC for allocation of land for faster implementation of projects | Both | Abhishek | 7569505721 | kpanwars@gmail.com | I have read and I agree with the Privacy Policy mentioned below | Keep me updated about responses to my report and experience. | No |