Public procurement portal Government e-Marketplace (GeM) is working on framework for ensuring payment to sellers within a guaranteed time frame, a senior official said. “We are working on a proposal wherein we will have a regime by which sellers would get payments in a specified time,” GeM Chief Executive Officer Talleen Kumar said. He said that currently, the time frame for payment is 10 days but it gets extended and causes problem to sellers. The platform is also looking at ways through which banks can lend to sellers. “Through this process, banks can provide working capital for MSMEs (micro, small and medium enterprises). We can give transaction data to banks and based on transaction history of a seller and looking at their performance and rating, banks can lend.
This kind of facility is possible on GeM,” he said. Currently, MSMEs face problems in getting credit. For this, the platform is working on a robust online seller and buyer rating mechanisms which will allow sellers to avail working capital loans where the cost of capital is linked to the performance and rating of sellers. This will also help buyers to procure from highly rated sellers in critical areas of procurement, he said. Further, he said the platform would set up GeM Organisational and Transformation Team (GOTT) in the buyer organisations on an outcome-based self-sustenance model to realign the procurement process in that organisation and leverage the marketplace procurement platform to its fullest potential.
It is also looking at ways to take on board artisans, weavers, start-ups which are not recognised by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade, and self-help groups on the platform so that they can offer their goods, a senior official said. “We are working to give space for emporium products. The idea is how we can leverage GeM to increase incomes of artisans, weavers, and craftsman,” he told reporters. Work is underway to factor in technical solutions so that working capital and traceability of the items are available to buyers and sellers on the platform. More than 3,000 start-ups are already registered on GeM and they have received orders amounting to Rs 522 crore till date.