SITA rolls out 21-day payment policy

After a long discussion with its members, the South Gujarat Information
Technology Association (SITA) has decided to put in place a payment policy
throughout the region. According to SITA members the economic recession in the
market had prompted them to take such a strong stance.

Speaking about the new policy, Chetan Desai, President, SITA said,
"Previously the procedure for collecting payments from customers for system
integrators (SI) as well as traders was haphazard. Some customers used to take
35 to 40 days to clear payments. Most of the times the shop owners had to go to
the customers place to collect the money or cheque. Now all our members have
decided to fix a duration to clear the payments. We advised SIs to collect the
amount against the delivery on the spot." Speaking about the economic crunch
Desai further added, "Apart from the problem of collecting payments, the
economic crunch which has impacted Surat as well, is another hurdle we have to
over come to ensure our businesses survive. Every body knows that diamond,
textile and share market have been adversely affected, and now the IT market is
the next soft target. So we decided to set up a payment policy where the
receiver of the product has to clear the payments within fixed dates against the
delivery."

As per the payment policy, SITA members will get 21 days credit period while
non-SITA members will have to clear their payments within 15 days.