MCD drive brings flurry of woes for channel

With the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) getting tougher
daily and continuing to seal shops, the channel community of the region is
facing the heat. As a result, partners having their offices in places so called
residential places like Karol Bagh, Green Park or even Hauz Khas are left with
no place to continue their business from.

"This is really a bad situation not only for us but for
the whole community in general. It is because of this activity that we are in
the process of shifting our Karol Bagh office. Silicon Comnet is relocating to
Preet Vihar and OA Compserve is shifting to Rajender Place," informed RK
Malhotra, CEO, OA Compserve Group.

A lot of business establishments are affected in Delhi
because of sealing of shops in residential areas. Around 100 traders
associations across the capital decided to down their shutters last Thursday.
This included some area-specific small associations in places like Derawala
Nagar or Laxmi Nagar.

According to estimates, close to 200 small and big shops are
getting affected because of MCD's campaign and more are likely to be affected
by a spiraling effect.

Since the MCD has already sealed many shops selling computer
hardware as well as consumables, the effect of this issue can create bigger
problems for the industry. "We already have a lot of issues now. Everyone
is operating under tremendous pressure from decreasing margins. Now if people
are forced to close down and shift to new places, only a few can survive such a
situation. The rest will suffer badly. This is not a good situation for us as
the industry itself will lose money and business," explained Saket Kapur,
Secretary of the Progressive Channels Association of IT (PCAIT).

Once dislocated, it is becoming very difficult for channel people to
establish themselves in other areas. "I was operating in this area for so
many years. I know everyone over here and we deal with local customers. Now I
don't want to shift to a new location and start the same business. Who will
guarantee my business continuity? Can MCD guarantee that?" questioned
another channel player from Pitampura area on condition of anonymity.

Zia Askari