PHD Chamber Seeks Extension For Registering Claims By MSMEs Under Vivad Se Vishwas

New Delhi, Nov 7 (KNN) Industry body PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry has insisted the government to extend the date for registering claims by MSME vendors till the end of the current financial year under the scheme Vivad Se Vishwas I – Relief for MSMEs, reported FE. 

Introduced in this year’s budget, the scheme aims to settle pending disputes related to government contracts during the Covid pandemic. 

The scheme was launched in April this year for the submission of claims for relief on the Government e-Marketplace (GeM) portal.

The last date to file submission was July 31. MSMEs which were unable to execute government contracts during the Covid period were allowed a 95 per cent refund of the performance security, 95 per cent of the bid security, 95 per cent of the liquidated damages (LD), and 95 per cent of the risk purchase amount forfeited or deducted under the scheme.

The chamber noted that it has received representations from MSMEs that they are unable to lodge their claims for relief on the dedicated link of the GeM portal where a message pops up stating that “As per VSV-1 Scheme guidelines, claims cannot be submitted posted 31st July 2023.” 

“In view of the above, we earnestly request your kind and quick attention for advising the concerned department to issue suitable amendment in the Ministry’s order dated 11 April 2023 for directing the GeM to make a provision for registering all such cases seeking the relief, by extending the tenure for submission of their claims until the close of financial year 31 March 2024, along with communicating it to all the Ministries and Defence Procuring Entities so that this relief policy can be executed properly and effectively,” the letter read.

For filing the claim, the original delivery period of the contract or completion period stipulated in the contract had to be between February 19, 2020, and March 31, 2022. Moreover, only the government-registered MSMEs were allowed under the scheme with details including contract number, contracting authority, paying authority and the deducted amount with respect to the contract applicable with the respective procuring entity. 

(KNN Bureau)