Playing backfoot, staying safe

MUMBAI, INDIA: In the wake of the current slowdown and the consequential scams, payment defaults, etc Trade Association of Information Technology (TAIT) has decided to stay safe and in the shade.

TAIT has recently issued some guidelines/precautionary measures to all the vendors and partners in the region which could help them stay afloat and out of credit problems in such times.

Seeing the credit crunch in the market TAIT has issued a set of eight guidelines; the guidelines suggest reduction of the credit period to 21 days maximum, to increase liquidity, it also supports issuing of PDC cheques within seven days of receiving the goods for all goods purchased.

Also, if the credit period is extended beyond 21 days, the interest rate will be applicable from the 23rd day at 24 percent rate. They also suggest a penalty of Rs 250 or 0.5 percent of the cheque amount if the cheque bounces.

They also advise all partners to take a co-stamp on the delivery challan and reconfirm the order by calling back to the party. The availability of the payment cheques should be on all the working days.

The guidelines also suggest that if any employee is leaving, sacked or newly appointed the channel should be informed immediately to avoid any confusions. Lastly, TAIT suggests to get a list from all the customers of their employees who could possibly be authorized to purchase the goods.

The above guidelines have been issued by TAIT as a precaution, to avoid any kind of incidents which have been happening all over the country, from partners running away with money, to cheques bouncing.

Champak Raj Gujjar, Ex-Chairman and Director, TAIT commented. “Since recession has started we were watching and trying to analyze the situation.”

“There was sprouting of small incidents happening in the region like delay in payments by one or two and thus spoiling the whole cycle. Also credit was being given much more importance, now we want to emphasize more on cash. To avoid these small incidents from becoming big scams and ghotalas we have extended these guidelines to the partners. The liquidity in the market is low, in fact all over the world its the same, this is our attempt to just play safe and stay away from bigger problems, after all precaution is always better than cure,” he added.