New Delhi, May 11 (KNN) The TReDS platform initiated by the government is proving to be instrumental towards the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in the country, Kalyan Basu, MD and CEO A.TReDS said to KNN in an exclusive interview.

Following are the excepts from the interview:

How is TReDS platform benefiting SMEs & MSEs?

The TReDS platform has been designed to enable MSMEs easier, cheaper and faster mode of financing their receivables. The ones which are participants on the TReDS platform are getting their payments within

48 hours of their bills being accepted by the buyers.  The objective of RBI in bringing TREDS to India was to enable financial inclusion of MSMEs by providing them timely working capital finances.

The government in recent times have taken several steps towards TReDS, also the finance minister have made mention of it at several occasions, what according to you can be done more for effective implementation of the mechanism?

We would like to take this opportunity to thank the Govt. and its functionaries for proving an enabling environment for TReDS. Through timely interventions, the Govt. is doing its best to strengthen the MSMEs. As an industry participant we would like availability of credit insurance for MSMEs which will help them maximise their benefits from TReDS platform. This would give more confidence to financiers while transacting.

How does your firm Invoicemart offer assistance for the same?

As a TReDS platform it is our endeavour to provide the most simple and easy to user interface to our partners. We constantly take feedback and keep making updates to our product.

Secondly, while the platform is completely digital and paperless, our teams reach out to our partners helping them integrate their systems with ours. Guiding them with initial transaction and provide support whenever required. These finer aspects of handholding the participant to become familiar with TReDS have ensured Invoicemart stays ahead of the competition.

Our endeavour is to provide a superior and a transparent experience which will ensure greater credibility and traction for the platform.

Recent developments & policy changes around TReDS platform & SMEs & MSEs business?

The TReDS platforms are hardly a couple of years old and we would look at a stable policy for it to flourish over a period. RBI has allowed classification of financing done through TReDS platform to be classified as priority sector lending (PSL) for the banks.

We are grateful to the Govt. which has recently announced its support time and again by advising PSUs and PSBs to be on-board TReDS exchanges. Secondly, the govt. has announced integration with GST network which, apart from other benefits, allow for an alternate source of credit history for MSMEs.

Invoicemart along with other TReDS exchanges had recently implemented the first ever enterprise blockchain solution. This solution has ensured that duplicate financing is prevented, while ensuring confidentiality of client information, what could be the way forward?

TReDS platforms are the way forward for MSME financing, while blockchain has been implemented from the perspective of transaction security, other banks and financiers joining the blockchain network will make it even more effective.

Integration with GST and implementation of Udyog Aadhaar will further enhance the veracity of the information being made available to the financiers on the TReDS platform. Being a fintech platform we want to set the benchmark for risk management and information security without comprising the user experience.

(KNN/DA)