NASSCOM, DeitY to focus on resolving e-Governance issues faced by the industry

Aimed at mitigating mounting outstandings and procurement challenges in e-Governance, National Association of Software Services Companies (NASSCOM) facilitated an interaction between DeitY and the Industry on various challenges being faced by the sector.

It's been noted that industry's participation in various e-Governance projects has seen a steady decline with several large projects resulting in a 'NO-BID' situation. One of the top concerns of the industry was on outstanding payments. Issues pertaining to various clauses in RFPs and Contracts were raised, particularly, relating to unlimited liabilities, dispute resolution and arbitration, lack of counter guarantees, payments etc.

Further, non-adoption of standardised RFP and contracting terms by various state governments was cited as a major area of concern for the industry. There is need for government organisations to take ownership of their own respective roles and responsibilities.

NASSCOM had earlier submitted a detailed representation to the Ministry on the subject, highlighting the issues as well as recommending some short and medium term enablers in order to bring about a win-win partnership between the industry and government.

Given the unique nature of this field which involves technical, commercial, legal and governance issues, NASSCOM President suggested that an arbitration mechanism by a neutral panel, be constituted, to resolve disputes over contractual or payment terms within a defined timeframe.

Government, on the other hand, need to focus on how it would ensure adoption and implementation of these recommendations. The project tendering process needs to be flexible and should also have enough room for product companies to participate in the e-Governance initiatives of the government.

Given the tremendous sense of urgency being seen in all spheres of government working in terms of technology adoption, NASSCOM suggested constitution of a Project Development Fund in line with the Infrastructure sector. NASSCOM has also urged the government to review the components in e-Governance and Digital India, which could be left completely to the private sector without getting into the complex procurement process to save time on deployment.

Chaired by R.S. Sharma, Secretary, DeitY, the meeting was attended by senior government officials from DEITY, Department of Expenditure, Ministry of Finance and the Department of Commerce, and R. Chandrashekhar, President, NASSCOM led a large team of CEOs and eGovernance Business Heads of Industry.