Industry apex body Kassia on Friday said MSMEs are seriously concerned about the implementation of the COVID-19 related emergency relief packages announced by the State and Central governments.
The industry members are facing innumerable difficulties in accessing benefits under these from banks, as per the trade body. For instance, guidelines issued under the Emergency Credit Link Guarantee Scheme (ECLGS) are not uniform and different banks have framed their own guidelines leading to confusion and hardship in making use of the schemes at a time when industries are in dire straits, it said.
The same confusion exists with regard to moratorium on the repayment of instalments and interest as well as other compliances. While some banks may be transparent and forthcoming, a number of others are unsure and place hurdles in the way of the MSME customers in accessing these benefits.
There are also problems with fixed electricity charges waiver by the State government with the BESCOM insisting on multiple documents from MSMEs to get these exemptions.
"We, therefore, would like to seriously urge the government to immediately ensure that uniform guidelines are issued and followed by all the banks and other institutions as otherwise a large number of MSMEs, accounting for approximately 30-35% of the units, may have no option but to shut down for want of succour, said R. Raju, president, Kassia.
“It is unfortunate that the government has announced these benefits for the revival of MSMEs and accessing them has become extremely difficult at the ground level,” he added.
KASSIA has received a number of complaints and representations from its members about the difficulties in accessing the schemes.
