Billing pushes software industry to Pondicherry

It's destination Pondicherry for the software industry when it comes to billing, as a lot of partners are moving there to help their reseller network benefit from the non-VAT regime. Whether it is New Delhi-based Softmart Solutions, Aditi Computers or Kolkota-based Chabria Infotech — all have their presence in Pondicherry so that their set of reseller community can benefit from the tax benefits there.



“We have already started our office at Pondicherry because the state is giving a lot of encouragement to the software industry for the past two to three years now. Since, there is no VAT in the state of Pondicherry, this is certainly helping at least 50 percent of our resellers when it comes to billing,” informed Alok Gupta, CEO of New Delhi-based Softmart Solutions.



Similarly, New Delhi-based Aditi Computers have also opened their office in Pondicherry and ditto with Kolkota based Chabria Infotech. “We have just opened our office there about a month back and we have three people at this office. Today, there are a lot of resellers who work with us and who are not based in New Delhi. This will certainly help them as Pondicherry does not have VAT as of now,” explained RK Singh of Aditi Computers.



It is interesting to note that sometime back, the same situation was prevalent in Gujarat also. Most of these companies had their offices in Ahmedabad when the state had a non-VAT regime. Experts in the industry believe that Pondicherry is also moving towards a VAT scenario but it will take sometime for the state to fully implement it.



“I don't think that it makes sense to go towards Pondicherry now. I think within a period of two or three months, the state will also adopt VAT, than we will have to look for other options,” said a prominent software reseller based in Bangalore on the condition of anonymity.



However, the question topmost on the minds of most resellers is as to what will happen when the government of Pondicherry plugs in to VAT? Well, resellers always have the option of moving to states like Uttaranchal or Goa, which are yet to implement the VAT regime. Hence, don't be surprised if software resellers start dotting the shores of these states in the near future.