Market Support Scheme for Smaller Business Units

What is the Market Support Scheme for Smaller Business Units?

Market Support Scheme for Smaller Business Units, 2018 is an incentive of the Department of Information Technology, Electronics and Communications, Government of Goa. It was framed in pursuance of clause 6.2.11.a of the Goa Information Technology Policy 2018, notified on 18 July 2018, and was published in the Official Gazette, Series I No. 21, on 23 August 2018 under Notification No. 2(11)/DOIT/2018/Spl. Incentives-SBU/748.

The stated objective is to provide Market Support to eligible IT units in the State of Goa. The problem it addresses is specific. A small IT firm in Goa does not usually lose business because its product is weak; it loses because nobody in the buying market has heard of it. Trade exhibitions are the standard remedy, and stall rental at a serious national or international show is often the largest single line in a small firm's annual marketing budget.

The scheme takes half of that rental cost off the table, up to a defined stall size, provided the unit clears the event with the Department first.

Two sibling schemes were notified alongside it for smaller business units: the Performance Linked Grant Scheme for Smaller Business Units and the Interest Subsidy Scheme for Smaller Business Units.

Who is eligible for the Market Support Scheme?

Your unit can apply if:

• It is a Smaller Business Unit with operations in Goa. The declaration form requires the unit to certify that it qualifies as a Smaller Business Unit as defined in the Goa IT Policy.
• It is one of these legal forms: a proprietorship firm, a private limited company or public limited company under the Companies Act, 2013 (or equivalent), a registered partnership firm under the Indian Partnership Act, 1932 (or equivalent), or a limited liability partnership under the LLP Act, 2008 (or equivalent).
• The bank accounts of the unit and/or its partners or directors are linked to Aadhaar.
• It can produce Udyog Aadhaar. The scheme makes this an express condition of eligibility.
• It has obtained pre-approval from the Committee prior to attending the exhibition.

You cannot apply, or are not eligible, if:

• You are an individual. There is no citizen application and no personal benefit under this scheme.
• Your unit attended the exhibition without pre-approval. Clause 4.5 of the scheme makes pre-approval an eligibility condition, so a retrospective claim does not arise.
• Your unit is availing similar financial incentives under any other policy of the Government of Goa.
• Your unit does not meet the Smaller Business Unit definition in the Goa IT Policy 2018.
• Your unit cannot produce Udyog Aadhaar, or its bank accounts are not Aadhaar-linked.
• Your unit operates outside Goa.

How much is reimbursed, and for what?

A reimbursement of 50% of the exhibition rental cost is provided for participating in national or international exhibitions, limited to 9 square metres of space, subject to approval by the Government.

Nine square metres is the standard 3 metre by 3 metre shell scheme booth used at most trade fairs, so the cap is set at one ordinary stall rather than a pavilion. A unit that books 18 square metres is not disqualified, but only the rental attributable to 9 square metres is reimbursable.

The reimbursement covers rental cost. The scheme's document checklist asks for brochures and information material "showing rental charges" and for "proof of payment of rental charges". Travel, accommodation, stall fabrication, freight and staffing are not named in the notification as reimbursable heads.

Benefits are subject to budgetary allocation, and the notification records that the provisions of the policy and its schemes are not binding representations or assurances, with promissory estoppel expressly excluded.

Which exhibitions are eligible?

The scheme does not leave event selection to the applicant. Clause 4.7 provides that a list of events where units may attend in order to expand their market would be prepared, following detailed market research on each event against these criteria:

• Participating countries
• Number and type of companies attending
• Technologies and innovation that may be adoptable by Goan companies
• Market outreach of the event
• Reputation of the event
• Timeline and past events' success rates or instances

The Department is required to pre-publish the list of events from time to time, after approval from the supported Committee. The practical implication: before you commit to a show, check whether it is on the Department's current list, because that list is the frame in which pre-approval is decided.

What documents does the claim need?

The checklist is split across the two stages of the process.

At pre-approval:

At reimbursement:

Annexure 1 is a two-part form. Part I, pre-approval, asks for the name of the event, the venue including city, state and country, the date of the event, the space required and the estimated cost of rental, with room for three events. Part II, reimbursement, asks the unit to select one of the events entered in Part I, shows the auto-populated approval status, and then asks for the total amount claimed and the eligible amount per policy.

Annexure 2 is the declaration, and it has its own Part II which requires the unit to confirm that no other financial assistance has been received for the events or exhibitions claimed under this incentive through any other source.

How to apply for the Market Support Scheme

1. Register on goaonline.gov.in. Verify your email ID and mobile number by OTP, complete the registration form, and create a login name and password.
2. File the Common Application Form (Part 1) with the requisite documents. The Department of Information Technology generates a unique registration number for the unit; every later filing references it.
3. Check the Department's pre-published list of events before committing to a show, and pick the exhibition you intend to attend.
4. Apply for pre-approval at least 60 days before the exhibition, submitting Part I of Annexure 1 with the brochures and information material showing the rental charges, plus the declaration form. The decision on pre-approval is issued within 30 working days.
5. Attend the exhibition only after pre-approval is received, and collect the certificate of participation at the venue. Recovering it from an organiser weeks later is much harder.
6. Pay the rental and keep the payment proof, because the reimbursable amount is computed on rental actually paid.
7. File the reimbursement claim, Common Application Form Part 2 with Part II of Annexure 1, the Part II declaration and the certificate under Annexure 3 — with the Due Diligence Committee, on the portal or by email.
8. Track the 90-day timeline on the Goa Online status-tracking page.

Who decides the claim?

The Due Diligence Committee of the Department of Information Technology scrutinises applications against the checklist. The supported Committee is the competent authority to accept or reject any claim filed by a unit, and the notification states that its decision is final and binding on the applicant. The supported Committee also approves the list of eligible events.

The published disbursement timeline is:

The applicant can apply quarterly, half-yearly or annually after incurring the relevant expenditure, so a unit attending several shows in a year can batch its reimbursement claims even though each event needed its own pre-approval.

Why do Market Support claims fail?

• No pre-approval. This is the defining failure mode of the scheme, and it is unrecoverable after the event.
• Pre-approval applied for late. The 60-day lead time is stated in the scheme, and a decision itself takes up to 30 working days.
• The event is not on the Department's list, or does not stand up against the clause 4.7 criteria.
• Brochure does not show rental charges, so the estimated rental cannot be assessed at pre-approval.
• No certificate of participation to show the unit actually attended.
• No proof of payment of rental charges, so the 50% cannot be computed.
• Assistance already received for the same event from another source, contrary to the Part II declaration.
• Udyog Aadhaar not produced, or bank accounts not Aadhaar-linked.

Where do I complain?

The Department of Information Technology, Electronics and Communications, Government of Goa is the first point of contact, at dit.goa.gov.in. The supported Committee is the deciding authority, and the Department is where a pre-approval decision overdue past 30 working days, or a claim overdue past day 90, should be pursued.

Application status can be tracked on goaonline.gov.in, which is also the State's route for registering a public grievance where the Department's own response is unsatisfactory.

Practical points

• Plan the exhibition calendar 90 days out. Sixty days of lead time for the application plus up to 30 working days for the decision means a show booked at short notice cannot be covered.
• Book the 9 square metre booth if the economics are marginal. Anything above that is entirely at the unit's cost.
• Ask the organiser for the participation certificate on the last day. It is the one document you cannot generate yourself.
• Confirm what is operative before you budget. The 2018 scheme was framed to remain in force for 5 years from its notification, published on 23 August 2018, and Goa's IT policy has been reviewed since.
• This is not a citizen scheme. Only Smaller Business Units apply; there is no individual benefit.

How to check your application status

The Market Support Scheme has two separate filings, pre-approval and reimbursement, and each has to be tracked on its own.

1. Log in to goaonline.gov.in with the login name and password created at registration, and open the Common Application Form dashboard. The unique registration number issued when Part 1 of the CAF was filed is the reference for both the pre-approval and reimbursement stages.
2. Open the application under IT Services to see its current stage: received, under scrutiny, placed before the supported Committee, or a sanction order or regret letter issued. This maps to the published D, D+30, D+60 and D+90 timeline; a pre-approval request stuck beyond 30 working days, or a reimbursement claim stuck beyond day 90, has crossed the Department's own benchmark.
3. Check email and the registered mobile number for status updates. Goa Online sends portal notifications when an application moves stage, including when the Due Diligence Committee raises a query or a document is found deficient.
4. Call or email the Department of Information Technology, Electronics and Communications if the portal status has not moved past its expected stage, quoting the CAF registration number and whether the query concerns the pre-approval or the reimbursement filing. Since no dedicated helpline number is published for this scheme, dit.goa.gov.in is the point of contact for a status query the portal itself does not resolve.
5. Distinguish a pending pre-approval from a pending reimbursement when you follow up. A unit can have an approved pre-approval on file while its reimbursement claim for the same event is still under scrutiny; quoting the wrong stage to the Department only slows the reply down.