The government is looking to quantify the cost imposed on business and industry by multiple administrative compliance, as it plans the next set of ease of doing business reforms aimed at reducing the burden. The Department for Promotion of Industry has Internal Trade (DPIIT) invited bids from survey agencies to undertake a nationwide survey to measure Administrative Cost Burden related to multiple compliance requirements prescribed by the government departments at various levels.
To arrive at the costs faced by business to fulfil the compliance requirements industry users, intermediaries and interviewing experts will be surveyed regarding government services across all the states and Union Territories. Apart from the industry, responses of intermediaries like Chartered Accountants, Lawyers and Company Secretaries. who assist the companies in getting the approvals in the stated regions will also be recorded. It will also include expert interviews.
The aim of the survey is to draw up an action plan to reduce costs for the industry, particularly Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs). The bid document says that 70% of those who will be surveyed will have to be from the MSME sector.
Following the survey the selected survey agency will also have to identify reform areas from this assessment under each cost category. The cost categories that have been shortlisted include time cost, substantive cost, intermediary cost, delay cost and statutory cost. The time cost would cover the amount of time spent by in-house personnel on different activities during the application stage. It will include original application and renewals and time cost spent in dealing with different departments in this phase.
Substantive costs include substantial activities such as procurement of any equipment, annual maintenance of registers/documents, intimation to government or any other significant cost. Intermediary cost would include fees or charges paid to an intermediary to handle administrative tasks on behalf of a business.
Delay cost will be the costs incurred because of delays or interruptions caused by the administrative process while statutory cost will include fees which are directly payable to the Government related to approvals or renewals.
The deadline for submitting the final report after receiving the feedback is January 31, 2025.
From: financialexpress
Financial News
