Confed ITA sounds bugle call for national association

CHENNAI, INDIA: In the recent past, channel partners across the country have been gradually falling prey to the ambiguous tax structures levied by different tax departments. To battle this lacunae, there is a need for a national body to tackle the issue. And Tamil Nadu-based Confed ITA is taking the initiative to work in this direction.

PN Prasad, President, Confed-ITA said, “We have been thinking about that for the past two years. That was why we finally become a state-wide body. Partners in different associations do not need to be apprehensive about losing their regional identity. All we want is to form a national body by having one representative per state chapter. The local issues can be solved locally and the associations can maintain their identity. The national body would represent our community in all aspects that bother us,” Prasad claimed.

In fact, Prasad has initiated a step in that direction. He had formed a national mailing group of Confed which has around 86 partners from various associations across the country. Through the mailers, members can discuss and deliberate on various topics and issues related to the channel community.

Welcoming the idea of partnering with other associations for a common cause, Rajesh Kothari, Chairman, ISODA, said that there would be no hesitation from ISODA's end to join hands with other associations to fight out issues. “It is really a good concept and all of us can get together to fight out huge issues. In fact there is a necessity for all IT dealers and distributors, irrespective of their vertical, to come together and represent a larger community,” Kothari opined.

Even Puneet Singhal, President, CMDA Delhi, agreed with Kothari and Prasad. “If there is going to be such an initiative, CMDA would definitely like to join hands with other associations to find a solution to all the woes of the channels,” Singhal claimed.

Prasad of Confed-ITA also made an open invitation to all associations to join Confed and represent a national structure.

Till sometime ago it was partners in South who were facing the brunt of the Central Excise Department regarding back-end incentives, this week it is partners in Delhi who received a notice from the VAT department, to share details of back-end payments of the past three years and pay VAT on them. Taking a strong step forward, Confed-ITA has banned the billing of products by national distributors in Tamil Nadu for an indefinite period. The ban was successfully implemented by all the associations under its belt, which put pressure on vendors to get back to Confed with a solution.

Delhi-based Computer Media Dealers Association (CMDA) has filed appeals for those notices with the VAT department and also taken up the issue with Manufacturers Association of Information Technology (MAIT). On the other hand Infotech Software Dealers Association (ISODA) plans to file a legal petition in Chennai Court seeking clarity on different tax structures, like double taxation on software and service tax on back-end incentives from vendors.

Read full report in The DQ Week, March 9-15 issue

Confed-ITA has revoked the ban on Samsung and HP products alone, as it has got written communication from these two vendors. The products that will continue to be suspended from trade include Acer, Dell, Lenovo, Numeric, Toshiba and TVS-E.

However, the ban has been revoked on a conditional basis. These two vendors have to get back to Confed with clear solutions. “HP and Samsung should give a solution for current business models and a solution for the back-end issues on or before March 23, 2009,” informed PN Prasad, President, Confed-ITA.

Samsung’s representatives would be meeting the core team of Confed-ITA today to discuss the issue of tax on back-end incentives. SK Sharma, Legal Head, Samsung India, Uday Bhat, GM—Printer Business, Samsung India and Sanjay Gupta, National Sales Manage, Samsung India will represent Samsung at the meet.

When contacted PN Prasad, President, Confed-ITA confirmed the development and informed that the association is still waiting to hear from other vendors.