NOT Easy to Do Business
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| # | 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(desc) | It was an attempt to | Other | The problem was | Other cause | Details of experience | Advice for others | Share my story with | Name | Contact no | Privacy Policy | Contact me | Display it | |
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| 19 | 16 Nov 2016 - 14:38 | Anonymous (not verified) | 203.122.16.122 | Not Easy to Do Business | Hospitality/ Tourism | Goa | Anjuna | 3/5 | 4/5 | 2/5 | 3/5 |
Register the business Register property Get permits and licenses under environmental laws Get building plan approved Get electricity connection Other |
Tourism and F&B licenses | Can’t find information | I have recently started a new business in Goa in the hospitality and tourism sector. I tried to register a new business, register property, get permissions and licenses under environment laws, get my building’s plan approved, get electricity connection and tourism, food and beverages licenses. The paperwork that was required for getting licenses is efficient and streamlined but the procedures and processes involved in getting these licenses are very complicated. The procedures are not clearly defined and one can easily get confused since there is a lot of contradicting information. The government officials are themselves confused and do not have any sort of clarity since the procedures keep on changing frequently. All of this leads to delay at the cost of the citizen’s time, effort and money. |
My advice to other entrepreneurs is that - you should start all the procedures as soon as possible as the time taken to obtain licenses can vary from a few days to even a few months. I am of the opinion that if you have a certain kind of rapport with certain officials or “know” a few of them it tends be of great help in getting your licenses on time. |
Both Keep it Anonymous |
Anonymous | NA | anonymous@anonymous.com | I have read and I agree with the Privacy Policy mentioned below | Yes | ||
| 22 | 16 Nov 2016 - 16:22 | Anonymous (not verified) | 203.122.16.122 | Easy to Do Business | Automotive Aftermarket | Gujarat | Ahemdabad | 3/5 | 3/5 | 4/5 | 3/5 |
Register the business Get electricity connection Get water connection Trade outside state/ country |
We have a family business of automotive aftermarket in Ahmadabad, Gujarat. We tried to register the business, get water and electricity connection and register for trade outside the state/ country. It was easy for us to start the business because we took help of our sales tax consultant to get the registration process initiated. His guidance and the ‘right’ contacts he had facilitated the registration process. | My advice for others would be – go through an expert accountant or a lawyer who has an expertise in the domain of getting the business or a start up registered. Have all your documents in place for the process to be faster. And if you or your accountant or lawyer ‘know’ some government officials or have certain contacts who can help you out with these procedures, it is like icing on the cake. | Senior Department Officials | Aditi Upadhyay | 9408644191 | udapdhyay73@yahoomail.com | I have read and I agree with the Privacy Policy mentioned below | Yes | ||||
| 23 | 16 Nov 2016 - 16:24 | Anonymous (not verified) | 203.122.16.122 | Easy to Do Business | Media | Gujarat | Ahemdabad | 3/5 | 3/5 | 3/5 | 3/5 | Register the business |
It was pretty much easy for us to set up our media enterprise in Ahmadabad, Gujarat. We are a partnership firm called as – Videowala and mostly work for the Adani Group and make short films as a part for their Corporate Social Responsibility. We won the 62nd National Film Award for the year 2014 under Best Debut Film of a Director (Non-Feature) Category for our documentary – ‘Goonga Pehelwan’. We are a partnership firm and a partnership firm is one of the easiest to register. It took us just five days to register the business and did not drain out our energies. Hence we could better concentrate on our business. |
My advice to other start ups would be if you have no idea about the procedures involved and the paperwork, go through an accountancy firm or some legal experts. It helps you focus on your business better rather than wasting your energy and time on the processes involved. | Keep it Anonymous | Anonymous | 9376806111 | mit@videowala.co.in | I have read and I agree with the Privacy Policy mentioned below | Keep me updated about responses to my report and experience. | Yes | |||
| 28 | 16 Nov 2016 - 17:39 | Anonymous (not verified) | 203.122.16.122 | Not Easy to Do Business | Media | Maharashtra | Mumbai | 4/5 | 3/5 | 1/5 | 3/5 | Register the business | Other | Requirement of a Broker | I registered my business in the media sector. Though the response time was pretty decent, I was surprised at the lack of information available anywhere on the internet about the steps you need to take to register a company. One of my main issues with the system is that it is essential to have a broker to speed up the process. I could not have done it myself without going through party. | My advice would be you will need a legal expert or some sort of broker who is well versed with the procedure of registering your company or business. | Both | Punit | 8080222210 | punit@mediasolutions.com | I have read and I agree with the Privacy Policy mentioned below | Yes | ||
| 32 | 16 Nov 2016 - 17:56 | Anonymous (not verified) | 203.122.16.122 | Not Easy to Do Business | Software | Delhi | Delhi | 3/5 | 2/5 | 2/5 | 3/5 |
Register the business Pay taxes File returns under labour laws, environmental laws, tax laws, etc. Other |
Acquiring another business | Submitting the same document to different departments |
I had a difficult time starting my software business in Delhi. I didn’t have to pay a bribe to register a Pvt. Ltd Company but had to pay a bribe to complete the registration of a proprietorship. There is no clarity on taxation. For example, when you pay someone for their services you have to deduct 10% TDS. I had no idea of any sorts if that person is Amazon or a MNC who have their offices in India and if I had availed their services did I need to deduct 10% TDS. Amazon demanded a full payment. I contacted a dozen charted accountants and even a friend of mine who is in the Indian Revenue Service. None of them had a clue. But all of them suggested paying TDS to be on a safer side. So I had to pay the full amount to Amazon and on the top of that 10% to the dear Government of India. There are so many scenarios where there is no clarity at all. Investment laws are a total mess. God help you if you ever receive a FDI. I received it once only to the return the amount of Rs. 5 lakhs. This is because the amount of running about I would have to do was not worth the amount. The legal system is terrible. If I may say, it is effectively a joke. An acquisition of one my products fell through because the acquirer did not want to make disputes subject to the Indian jurisdiction in the contract. In the acquirer’s own words – “the Indian legal system isn’t held in very high regard here” (in Australia). There are high costs involved in doing business especially in India. My gateway charges a 5% premium (so a 3% + a 5%) for the Indian Businesses because of the increased cost of operations. So an American Company charges only 3% whereas I have no option but to settle at 8%. There are innumerable other hassles as well. It is like a death by giving thousand cuts. |
Even in the software industry, regulations are very high. Be patient and prepared to wait for a while to get through. |
Keep it Anonymous | Anonymous | 02026634513 | director@siu.in | I have read and I agree with the Privacy Policy mentioned below | Yes | ||
| 33 | 16 Nov 2016 - 17:59 | Anonymous (not verified) | 203.122.16.122 | Not Easy to Do Business | Financial | Delhi | Delhi | 3/5 | 4/5 | 2/5 | 3/5 | Register the business | Other | Registration of name |
I did not find it easy to set up my financial enterprise in Delhi. It took us a couple of months only to get the name of my company registered. Every time I submitted a name, it used to get rejected without any known reasons. It was very time-consuming, taxing and unnecessary. Only this step set me back by three months at least. Getting the trademark registered was a problem because I had to go through a lawyer. I fail to understand why couldn’t I find all the information myself and do it independently without involving extra costs. An entrepreneur abroad can do these things independently without taking anyone’s help. I could have saved a lot of money if I knew the procedures. |
Consult some expert who will help you out legally and also in financial matters. I think that’s the only way out because I couldn’t do everything on my own. |
Keep it Anonymous | Anonymous | 9649860773 | ishan.techwiz@gmail.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 | |||
| 35 | 16 Nov 2016 - 18:03 | Anonymous (not verified) | 203.122.16.122 | Not Easy to Do Business | E-Commerce | Maharashtra | Mumbai | 3/5 | 3/5 | 1/5 | 3/5 |
Register the business Trade outside state/ country |
Submitting the same document to different departments |
The biggest problem is the lack of clarity in the process. I went to the company registrar's office and took a form, filled it and submitted it to the officer. He gave me 'n' number of reasons explaining why they cannot accept the form, and I was given a long list of documents needed for my form to be accepted. Now to get each of these documents, I had run around to different departments of the government. No one offered help at the government office, because they expected a bribe to solve my queries. I collected all my documents from all the offices to submit these documents to the same officer only to know another set of reasons why my form won’t be accepted and another set of documents to be submitted. At this point, I was so frustrated that I asked the officer why he didn’t tell me about these reasons and documents earlier. And he simply smiled and said, I forgot. There will be lot more things you experience when you visit a government office. The officer was busy with some government work, which he was not supposed to be given in the first place. So this is used as an excuse to not meet you but the real reason is that he somehow wants to extract bribe from you. The more frustrated you are, the more he earns. Government employees could find a million reasons to not deal with you or your issue, and there is nothing you can do about it. According to the standard government procedure one can complain to his higher officers but the higher officers are equal partners in taking bribe. All have defined what charges will be taken as a bribe when you want something from them. How do I know about this? I am a son of a government officer (not company's registrar, but another government department) and despite that I tried to register my company honestly. I know both the sides of the coin. My dad tried to fight this as an honest officer when he was young. He has to visit courts till this date because some senior officers framed him in the wrong case. The last case has been running for last 2 years. My dad tried to contact everyone he can above his officers but all told him to shut up and be part of the system or else he will be in jail for sure. If you ask me for a solution, then it's done already in passport offices. TCS is running that department amazingly. The process is exactly described on their website. No local laws affect that procedure. And your turn is decided once you register online. You will surely be able to finish with the procedure in 1 or 2 hours. You know exactly what is needed before going to that department. |
Don't plan on doing business in India. Move abroad! |
Senior Department Officials Keep it Anonymous |
Sanjay Gedam | 8652786590 | gedamsanju@yahoo.com | I have read and I agree with the Privacy Policy mentioned below | Yes | |||
| 36 | 21 Nov 2016 - 12:10 | Prashant | 203.122.16.122 | Not Easy to Do Business | Passport | Maharashtra | Palghar | 3/5 | 2/5 | 3/5 | 3/5 | Other | Obtaining a passport | They keep asking me to submit some new document every time |
Doing business in India is like travelling on a road with multiple roadblocks. Every hurdle has to be crossed in order to reach your destination. Unnecessary & excessive laws hamper business growth. Time consuming approvals required at every step.(1) As an example, Indian passport applicants in Palghar district of Western Maharashtra are asked to bring one witness(2) who is not a relative and should reside in the same building as the person who wants a passport. Does such a rule even exist? No such law is clearly mentioned on Passport Seva website(3). So, an applicant has to visit the Passport Seva Kendra (PSK) with original documents, then again to Police Station with same original documents and also the witness from same building. Why can't both be integrated? Also, laws need to clear cut for valuable documents like a passport. Any genuine entrepreneurs, small businesses or solo travellers in Palghar district may not be able to expand their journeys, if they can't bring witness from same building. In my opinion, this is just ridiculous! One shouldn't have to go through such pains to obtain a passport. And even if the procedure is a little lengthy, they should at least mention it clearly on the website. (1): http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/company/corporate-trends/licence-raj-replaced-by-time-consuming-approval-raj-biocon-cmd-kiran-mazumdar-shaw/articleshow/53490079.cms?from=mdr (2): https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CpQ2_2dUMAE70RB.jpg (3): http://passportindia.gov.in/AppOnlineProject/online/faqPoliceVerification |
Patience is required. The Indian bureaucracy will frustrate you! | Senior Department Officials | Turbasu Chatterjee | 9987654687 | tarbasuchatter@hotmail.com | I have read and I agree with the Privacy Policy mentioned below | Yes | ||
| 38 | 23 Nov 2016 - 17:52 | Prashant | 203.122.16.122 | Not Easy to Do Business | Education | Maharashtra | Mumbai | 4/5 | 3/5 | 3/5 | 3/5 |
Register the business Get electricity connection |
Other | Lot of documents required to register | Initial stage when one is trying out and testing out various other factors, the submission of documents for permission becomes a hindrance. Now with Adhar card, its better. Earlier, ration card, electricity bill, and so many other things were required. Also since none were photo-ids and processes were not computerized back then, it led to lot of corruption, too. | Documents are most important and one must be very meticulous in maintaining them. | Keep it Anonymous | Anonymous | 9833924637 | ajita_avc@rediffmail.com | I have read and I agree with the Privacy Policy mentioned below | Yes |