Quality Certification Reimbursement Scheme (Goa IT Policy 2018)

What is the Goa Quality Certification Reimbursement Scheme?

Quality Certification Reimbursement Scheme is a fiscal incentive of the Goa IT Policy 2018, run by the Department of Information Technology, Electronics and Communications, Government of Goa. The scheme pays an Information Technology unit operating in Goa the cost of obtaining an industry-standard quality certification.

According to clause 6.B.10 of the Goa IT Policy 2018, published on goa.gov.in and in the Official Gazette Series I No. 20 of 16 August 2018, all new and existing units shall be eligible for a reimbursement of the cost of industry standard quality certification. This incentive may be claimed only once for any number of certifications acquired during the policy period. The maximum amount that may be availed under this reimbursement is capped at INR 5 lakh per unit.

Quality certification is one of the eighteen schemes notified under the Goa IT Policy 2018. The Department of Information Technology has reported that the policy and its schemes have been extended up to August 2027.

Why certification matters commercially

For an IT services firm in Goa, an ISO 27001 or a CMMI appraisal is often the gate that lets it bid at all, enterprise and government buyers routinely require it in a tender's technical qualification. The audit and assessment cost is real and lands before any of the revenue it unlocks. This scheme exists to stop that cost keeping small Goa units out of larger procurement.

Who is eligible for the Quality Certification Reimbursement Scheme?

A unit can claim if:

• It is a new or existing Information Technology unit operating in Goa.
• It has actually obtained an industry standard quality certification during the policy period.
• It is not availing similar financial incentives under any other policy of the Government of Goa. The policy states this exclusion twice, in clause 6.B.1(c) and again in clause 7.A.2.
• Its employees have been on the rolls of the unit for at least 12 months, which the policy requires in order to avail the complete benefit of the incentives in the fiscal section.

The proportion of the incentive released depends on the workforce mix:

A unit with a strong Goan hiring record therefore receives the full incentive; a unit with a thin one receives half of it. This criterion runs across all the fiscal incentives in section 6.B of the policy, not only quality certification.

You cannot apply if:

• You are an individual IT professional. This scheme reimburses a unit, not a person. A Goan IT professional seeking certification support should instead look at clause 6.D.1 of the same policy, which allows reimbursement of up to 50% of the expenditure incurred for obtaining certifications for improving employability, where the certification is by the vendor or its authorised training partner and appears on the Department's list.
• You are a startup claiming under the startup policy. The Goa startup incentives; Seed Capital, Salary Reimbursement, R&D, Trademark, IPR and the rest: are administered separately by the Startup and IT Promotion Cell and do not include a quality certification component.
• You are already claiming a similar incentive under another Goa policy.
• You have already claimed this incentive once during the policy period.
• The unit is not an Information Technology unit as understood under the policy.
• You have obtained the certification but cannot evidence the cost paid.

What documents are required?

How to apply for the Quality Certification Reimbursement Scheme

1. Confirm your unit qualifies. Establish that you are an IT unit operating in Goa and that you are not claiming a similar incentive under any other policy of the Government of Goa. Getting this wrong voids the claim later, with interest.
2. Obtain the certification. Complete the audit with an accredited certification body, take delivery of the certificate, and keep the invoices and payment records.
3. Compile the workforce statement. Calculate the percentage of Goan-origin employees or Goan graduates on your rolls as on the last date of the financial year, or as an average full-time equivalent, counting only employees who have been on the payroll for at least 12 months. This figure determines whether you receive 50%, 75% or 100% of the incentive.
4. File the claim with the Department of Information Technology. Submit the application through the state's single-window system, or directly to the Department of Information Technology, Electronics and Communications, Government of Goa, with the certification, invoices, payment proof, unit registration and workforce statement.
5. Respond to scrutiny. The application is examined by the Department and placed before the supported Committee, which the policy makes the authority for deciding the incentives to be provided under the schemes defined in the policy.
6. Await the decision. The policy provides that through the single window system all decisions regarding incentive approvals and payments will be given within 90 working days, subject to due compliance with the procedures by the applicant.

How to apply offline

1. Approach the Department of Information Technology, Electronics and Communications, Government of Goa, and ask for the current application form for the Quality Certification Reimbursement Scheme under the IT Policy 2018.
2. Submit the completed form with the certification certificate, invoices, payment proof, incorporation documents and workforce statement.
3. Collect the acknowledgement carrying the file reference, and follow up against the 90-working-day service standard.

The Goa Chamber of Commerce and Industry publishes the consolidated IT Policy schemes document and is a practical first stop for Goa units unfamiliar with the process.

Who decides, and on what basis

The Goa IT Policy 2018 constitutes an supported Committee at state level to guide, approve grants and monitor new and existing units. The Committee is chaired by the Chief Minister, vice-chaired by the Minister for Information Technology, and includes the Chief Secretary, the Finance Secretary, the Secretary (Information Technology), the Managing Directors of GITDC and Goa Electronics Limited, the Chairman of Info-Tech Corporation of Goa and the Economic Development Corporation, and four industry representatives. The Director of the Department of Information Technology is Member Secretary.

The policy is explicit that benefits are subject to budgetary allocation, and that no promissory estoppel applies if benefits are discontinued because the allocation is exceeded. A qualifying unit therefore has a strong case, not a guaranteed payment.

What happens if a claim is wrong

Clause 7.A.6 of the policy is unusually direct. Where any information supplied by a unit to avail incentives is found to be false, misleading or misrepresenting any facts, the unit must return any amount received as incentives along with interest at 18% per annum from the date of disbursal, and shall be debarred from availing any incentives under any policy or schemes implemented by the Government in future.

That penalty applies to the workforce percentage as much as to the invoice value, so the Goan-employee calculation should be documented from payroll records rather than estimated.

Other incentives an IT unit in Goa can claim

The same policy carries a substantial set of fiscal incentives for IT units, each subject to the same 50/75/100 workforce criterion and the same bar on double benefit:

• Power subsidy to 20% on power charges, up to Rs 5 lakh per annum per unit, for 3 years.
• Internet subsidy to 25% reimbursement on high speed bandwidth, up to Rs 5 lakh per annum, for 3 years.
• Lease rental subsidy — up to 50% of annual lease rentals, 60% where 30% or more of employees are women, for 2 years.
• Salary subsidy, matching grant up to Rs 10,000 per fresher per month, Rs 12,500 for a female fresher, for 2 continuous years.
• Patent filing reimbursement; up to Rs 25 lakh per unit, at up to Rs 2.5 lakh per successful domestic patent and Rs 5 lakh per international patent.
• Registration and stamp duty subsidy; charges capped at Rs 100, with the excess reimbursed.

Key dates

• 18 July 2018, Goa IT Policy 2018 notified vide Notification No. 2(15)/DOIT/2017-18/Goa IT Policy – 2018/624, as recorded in the Goa Startup Policy 2025.
• 16 August 2018: Policy published in the Official Gazette, Series I No.

• Policy period; stated in the policy as five years from gazette notification, subsequently extended, with the Department reporting extension of the 18 notified schemes up to August 2027.

Help and grievance redressal

• Department of Information Technology, Electronics and Communications: dit.goa.gov.in
• Startup and IT Promotion Cell helpline: 1800-233-5060
• E-mail: spc-dit.goa@gov.in
• Policy text: goa.gov.in/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/IT-Policy-2018.pdf

Under clause 7.A.7, in case of any dispute between the Government and a unit, the decision of the Chairman of the supported Committee is final. Before escalating, check the two things that decide most files: whether your unit is claiming a similar incentive elsewhere, and whether your Goan-employee percentage is documented from payroll rather than asserted.

How to check your application status

The Quality Certification Reimbursement Scheme does not run on a public online tracker with a status login, so status checking is largely a matter of following up directly with the sanctioning authority.

1. Note your file reference at submission. Whether you file through the single-window system or hand the application to the Department of Information Technology, Electronics and Communications directly, insist on a dated acknowledgement carrying a file or application number. Quote this number in every follow-up.
2. Track against the 90-working-day standard. The policy commits to a decision on incentive approvals and payments within 90 working days of a compliant submission through the single window. Count from the date of your acknowledgement, not the date you first enquired about the scheme, and treat the count as working days rather than calendar days.
3. Call or email the Department before escalating. Use the Startup and IT Promotion Cell helpline at 1800-233-5060, or write to spc-dit.goa@gov.in, quoting your file reference and the date of submission. Because this is a unit-level fiscal incentive decided by the Empowered Committee rather than an individual-benefit scheme with instant online status, a direct query to the Department is the fastest way to learn whether your file is still under scrutiny, has been listed before the Committee, or is pending a document you have not yet supplied.
4. Ask specifically where the file sits. A quality certification claim moves through three stages: departmental scrutiny of documents, listing before the Empowered Committee for a decision, and release of payment subject to budgetary allocation. When you follow up, ask which of these three stages your file is at, since each has a different likely wait.
5. Keep escalation proportionate. If the 90-working-day window has passed without a decision, raise it in writing to the Department, referencing the service standard in the policy, before treating it as a dispute. Clause 7.A.7 makes the Chairman of the Empowered Committee the final authority on any dispute between the Government and a unit, so a written departmental follow-up is the appropriate first step, not a legal notice.

Common reasons for rejection

• A similar incentive is already being claimed under another Goa policy. Clauses 6.B.1(c) and 7.A.2 bar this twice over. A unit that is, for instance, also drawing a certification-linked benefit under a separate state scheme will be refused here. Fix: check every other Goa state or sector incentive your unit holds before filing, and disclose it in the declaration rather than let scrutiny discover it.
• The incentive has already been claimed once during the policy period. The scheme is explicitly a one-time reimbursement per unit, regardless of how many certifications the unit later acquires. Fix: confirm internally, especially in a unit with more than one certification effort running, that no earlier claim under this specific head has already been paid or is pending.
• Cost cannot be evidenced with invoices and matching payment proof. A certificate alone does not establish what was paid. Fix: retain the certification body's invoices and the bank statement or payment record that matches them line for line before filing, not after a query is raised.
• Employees have not been on the rolls for the required 12 months. The policy conditions the full fiscal benefit on staff continuity; a unit that recently hired to inflate its numbers, or that cannot show 12 months of payroll history, weakens its claim. Fix: base the workforce statement only on employees with a documented 12-month payroll history as of the claim date.
• The Goan-employee percentage is asserted rather than documented. Since this figure decides whether 50%, 75% or 100% of the incentive is released, a number that is not backed by payroll records inviting Goan-origin or Goan-graduate status is routinely queried or discounted. Fix: prepare the workforce statement directly from payroll data, with supporting proof of Goan origin or graduate status for each employee counted.
• The unit does not qualify as an Information Technology unit under the policy. A company operating partly in IT but registered or classified otherwise may find its claim refused at the threshold stage. Fix: confirm your unit's registration and activity classification align with how the IT Policy 2018 defines an eligible IT unit before applying.
• An individual files instead of the unit. This scheme reimburses the unit that paid for certification, not an employee's personal certification. Fix: file in the unit's name with unit-level documents; an individual professional should instead pursue the separate employability-certification reimbursement under clause 6.D.1.
• Budgetary allocation for the year is exhausted. The policy states benefits are subject to budgetary allocation and that no promissory estoppel applies if the allocation runs out. A technically sound claim can still be deferred or reduced for this reason alone. Fix: file as early in the financial year as your certification and documentation allow, rather than waiting until year end.
• False or misleading information is found in the claim. Under clause 7.A.6, this is treated far more severely than a simple rejection: the unit must refund any amount already received with 18% annual interest and is debarred from all future Goa incentives. Fix: treat every figure in the workforce statement and every invoice value as something that will be checked, and correct any discrepancy before submission rather than leave it for scrutiny to find.