The Indian government has launched an Ebiz portal to make it easier for businesses to avail of government services such as issuance of PAN number, filing of returns, MSME Registration, registration for Excise and Service Tax, among others. As of now 22 services (listed below), of which 8 are Central Government services, have been enabled on the website, along with an integrated payment gateway. The plan is for the government to expand its offering. To give you an indication of how complicated it is to start a business in India, there's also a wizard that helps you start a business online. The portal claims to allow you to, while starting up: - Create a personalized list of licenses, clearances and registrations that are applicable to you based on the unique characteristics of your business; - Apply online for the requisite licenses, clearances and registrations - Make electronic payments towards statutory (processing) fees, (stamp) duties, service fee etc.; -Track status of your application online; - Receive alerts via email and SMS on the progress of your application; - Interact online with the various Government departments such as responding to queries/clarifications, submit additional documentary artifacts; - Obtain electronic copies of your licenses, registration certificates and other clearance letters We tried it out for an Internet business based in Delhi (like ours), and after a questionnaire that had around 25 questions, it informed us of the documents we might need to start a business. It's been launched in partnership with Infosys, for a period…
