Performance Linked Grant Scheme for Smaller Business Units

What is the Performance Linked Grant Scheme for Smaller Business Units?

Performance Linked Grant 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.b 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 a Performance Linked Grant to eligible IT units in the State of Goa. In practice the scheme rewards a specific thing — sustained growth by a small IT business, not investment, not headcount, not capital expenditure. A unit that grows turnover by 15% a year for three consecutive years is treated as having demonstrated that it is a going concern worth backing, and is paid 5% of its reported net income for that period.

The same notification carried two sibling schemes for smaller business units: the Market Support Scheme for Smaller Business Units, which reimburses exhibition rental costs, and the Interest Subsidy Scheme for Smaller Business Units. Each is a separate application.

Who is eligible for the Performance Linked Grant?

Your unit can apply if:

• It is a Smaller Business Unit, as defined in the Goa Information Technology Policy 2018. The declaration form requires the unit to state on record that it qualifies as a Smaller Business Unit as defined in that policy.
• It has its operations in Goa.
• 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.
• It has recorded 15% year-on-year turnover growth for any three consecutive years during the operation of the policy.

You cannot apply, or are not eligible, if:

• You are an individual. This scheme has no citizen application and no personal benefit. Employees, founders in their personal capacity, freelancers and consultants cannot claim under it.
• 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 IT Policy 2018.
• Your unit cannot show 15% year-on-year growth over three consecutive years within the policy period.
• Your unit cannot produce Udyog Aadhaar, or its bank accounts are not Aadhaar-linked.
• Your unit operates outside Goa.

How much does the grant pay, and how is it computed?

The notification is precise: Smaller Business Units that record a growth of 15% year-on-year turnover for a period of any three consecutive years during the operation of the policy will be provided a performance grant of 5% of the reported net income, subject to a total cap of INR 25 lakh.

Three things follow from that wording and are worth being clear about.

The qualifying test and the payment base are different numbers. Growth is measured on turnover. The grant is 5% of reported net income. A unit can therefore qualify on strong revenue growth and still receive a modest grant if its margins are thin.

"Reported" means reported to the tax authorities. The document checklist asks for the unit's Income Tax Returns for all years covered in the claim, highlighting the net income and the year-on-year growth, plus a certified copy from the auditor or Chartered Accountant certifying the reported income for the period claimed. The scheme is not asking for management accounts.

The Rs 25 lakh cap is a total cap. It is stated as a total cap on the grant, not an annual ceiling.

Annexure 1 to the scheme, the Performance Linked Grant Form for Smaller Business Unit, reflects this structure directly. It asks for the period claimed under the policy, then for a year-by-year table of reported net income and percent growth over previous year for Year 1 through Year 4, and then the total amount claimed. The four-year row structure exists because a three-year run of growth requires a base year to measure the first year's growth against.

Benefits are subject to budgetary allocation. The notification records that the provisions of the policy and its schemes are not binding representations or assurances, and that the doctrine of promissory estoppel does not apply against the Government where a provision is not implemented.

What documents does the claim need?

Alongside these, the claim requires the Common Application Form, the application form for units (Annexure 1) and the declaration form for units (Annexure 2). Annexure 2 carries the specific declaration that the unit qualifies as a Smaller Business Unit as defined in the Goa IT Policy.

Note one small drafting difference from the sibling schemes: this checklist lists PAN and Aadhaar but does not list GST TIN, where the Market Support and Solar Power schemes list PAN, Aadhaar and GST TIN.

How to apply for the Performance Linked Grant

1. Register on goaonline.gov.in. Verify your email ID and mobile number by OTP, then complete the registration form and create a login name and password.
2. File the Common Application Form (Part 1) with the requisite documents. The form and documents may be emailed or submitted on the web portal, and the Department of Information Technology generates a unique registration number for the unit.
3. Assemble the growth evidence before you file. Pull the Income Tax Returns for every year in the claim period, and get your auditor or Chartered Accountant to certify the reported income for that period. This is the slowest part of the claim and it cannot be compressed at the end.
4. Log in to goaonline.gov.in, open Services, then IT Services, and select this scheme to open its application form.
5. Submit the Common Application Form (Part 2) with the incentive-specific form (Annexure 1) to the Due Diligence Committee, filling the year-by-year table of reported net income and percentage growth, and the total amount claimed.
6. Attach the signed declaration form (Annexure 2), including the declaration that the unit qualifies as a Smaller Business Unit under the Goa IT Policy.
7. 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 the application 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 published disbursement timeline is:

The applicant can apply quarterly, half-yearly or annually after incurring the relevant expenditure.

Why do Performance Linked Grant claims fail?

• The three-year growth run is broken. One year below 15% growth ends that particular run for the purposes of the claim.
• Growth shown on management accounts rather than filed returns. The checklist asks for Income Tax Returns highlighting the net income and the year-on-year growth.
• No auditor or Chartered Accountant certificate of the reported income for the claim period, so the 5% cannot be computed on a certified base.
• The base year is missing. Without the year before the run, the first year's growth percentage cannot be established.
• The unit does not meet the Smaller Business Unit definition in the IT Policy 2018, which the declaration form requires it to certify.
• Udyog Aadhaar not produced, or bank accounts not Aadhaar-linked.
• Another Goa Government incentive already availed for the same thing.

Where do I complain?

The Department of Information Technology, Electronics and Communications, Government of Goa is the first point of contact, and its scheme and policy pages are at dit.goa.gov.in. The supported Committee is the deciding authority, and the Department is where a file that has crossed day 90 without a sanction order or regret letter 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

• Confirm what is operative first. 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. Ask the Department of IT what is current.
• Individuals cannot apply. This is worth repeating because business-facing schemes on scheme aggregators are frequently mistaken for citizen benefits. There is no personal grant here.
• Confirm your Smaller Business Unit status early. The definition sits in the Goa IT Policy 2018 rather than in the scheme notification, and the declaration form makes the unit certify it.
• Keep the growth story clean in the filed returns. Restatements, changes of accounting year and late filings all make the year-on-year table harder to evidence than it needs to be.
• Read the sibling schemes. The Market Support Scheme for Smaller Business Units and the Interest Subsidy Scheme for Smaller Business Units sit in the same notification and address different costs.

How to check your application status

1. Log in to goaonline.gov.in with the same login name and password created at registration, and open the applicant dashboard.
2. Open "Track Application Status" (or the equivalent status-tracking option on the portal) and enter the unique registration number issued when the Common Application Form (Part 1) was filed. Keep this number on file from the day of submission; the Department's correspondence refers to the claim by it.
3. Read the status against the published disbursement timeline, since the portal typically shows the file at one of these stages rather than a plain "pending" or "approved" label:

4. If the file has crossed 90 days from submission with no sanction order or regret letter on the portal, follow up directly with the Department of Information Technology, Electronics and Communications, Government of Goa, rather than waiting for the portal to update on its own.
5. For a claim submitted by email rather than through the portal, status has to be sought the same way: a follow-up email or call to the Department of IT referencing the unique registration number, since an email-only submission will not always reflect on the goaonline.gov.in dashboard.
6. Keep a copy of the acknowledgment generated when the Common Application Form was filed and the confirmation of the Annexure 1 and Annexure 2 submission, since the Department may ask for the registration number and filing date before it will discuss the file's status over phone or email.