Five years in the works, eBiz portal kicks off

NEW DELHI: After working on the plan for nearly five years, the government on Thursday added 11 services to the eBiz portal that will help businesses get online information and approvals. The portal, which is part of the strategy to make it easier to do business, will see the addition of 15 more services shortly, with the list expected to expand to 200 in the coming years.
Currently, entrepreneurs have to avail of government services by either submitting forms in a physical form or approaching the websites of various government agencies. But with several services now on the eBiz portal, they cannot just get the services 24x7 but submit applications online along with attachments, pay the fee, track the status and also obtain the approval.
They will be provided with copy of challan, which he can save or print, acknowledgement of submission and tracking of status of the form besides receiving SMS alerts on important notifications. “The certificate/clearance can be downloaded from eBiz,” the statement said.
The services that were added to the portal included four from the corporate affairs ministry, including name availability, directors’ identification number or DIN, certificate of incorporation and commencement of business. Similarly, Central Board of Direct Taxes will deal with the issue of PAN and Tax Deduction Account Number (TAN), while RBI will issue Advanced Foreign Remittance (AFR) and foreign collaboration-related approvals. One service each from the Directorate General of Foreign Trade, Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation and Petroleum & Explosives Safety Organisation will also be available on eBiz.
Launching the initiative, finance minister Arun Jaitley said, “We are firmly committed to wide-ranging initiatives aimed at fostering the business environment in the country in a holistic manner. Our approach includes leveraging technology to bring transparency, improve efficiency and promote convenience. eBiz is an important step in this direction.”