Intel refutes JITA charge

Mumbai

March 10th, 2008

Following an event that Intel held in association with Jamnagar IT
Association (JITA) some time back, the association is now up in arms about the
IT major since payment that has yet to be cleared. But the vendor has cleared
its stance and refuted the allegations.

As per JITA rules, any company holding an event in Jamnagar, which is
attended by the association members, has to pay a fee of Rs 1,000 to the
association. In addition, any salesman that comes to the Jamnagar area and is
dealing with the members of JITA, has to pay a fee of Rs 150 to the association.

Apart from the Rs 1,000 that the association is to receive from Intel for the
event, Chetan Bakrania, Committee Member of JITA also claimed that when
approached for the fee Vinay Chopda, Channel Account Manager-Ahmedabad, Intel
was rude and misbehaved with him.

Bakrania said, "Intel had carried out an event with the association in
Jamnagar and Sarfaraz Virparia, Business Executive-Channel Strategy, Intel (Jamnagar)
had agreed to pay us Rs 1,000. This amount, which is collected from the vendor
is used by us to perform the daily activities of the association. Virparia
requested me to get in touch with Chopda, who sits is Ahmedabad and manages all
the accounts for Intel. When I contacted Chopda on the phone he misbehaved, and
threatened me saying that they would see to it that there would be no
association in Jamnagar and they would stop doing business with all the
association members. He went on to say that they would make sure that we plead
before them, for doing any further business."

According to Bakrania, he was only informing Chopda about the association
rules. "We will now take up this issue with all the associations like South
Gujarat IT Association (SITA), Baroda IT Association (BITA) and Ahmedabad IT
Association (ACMA) and seek their guidelines on the same," said Bakrania.

He further added, "We give receipts to every company who pays us and we
want our association to be a disciplined one. Earlier also Channel Times had
conducted an event in Jamnagar and they paid Rs 1,000 for the event, for which
we managed all their arrangements like booking of hotels and travel." JITA
has 54 active members and these dealers hold 90 percent of the IT business in
Jamnagar.

However, when contacted, Rajesh Gupta, Director-Sales, Intel Asia-Pacific
said, "As per our research, the fee that JITA levies on vendors to hold
activities in the area is not a government surcharge. Hence it is not mandatory
for Intel or any vendor for that matter to make payments to an association for
customer/dealer visits or events. A majority of our associates based in Jamnagar
have communicated to us that they don't support the so called fee levied by JITA
and that they welcome vendors to come to Jamnagar and help grow local business.
Many of our clients in Jamnagar have also informed us that they are not a part
of this association."

However, Gupta agreed that an event was carried out in Jamnagar. "As
part of our strategy, increasing partner networks across cities like Jamnagar is
critical. We have built significant partner network in the market and recently
held an event in Jamnagar, which saw participation of more than 50 key players
in the market," said Gupta.

Talking about Intel's commitment to the channel, Gupta added, "A
majority of channel partners have conveyed to us that they appreciate Intel's
activities and growing focus in upcountry Gujarat markets, including Jamnagar,
and would like us to keep supporting them in their efforts in developing the
market and strengthening the channel business."