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I tried starting a manufacturing unit in India (2020)

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Re: I tried starting a manufacturing unit in India (2020)

#151

Post by klausjensen »

karterk wrote: post #137
klausjensen wrote: post #109

~5 years ago, I hired three Indian developers. They asked me if we could set up an Indian legal entity, so that they could just get regular salaries in India with tax payments, deductions etc taken care of. I agreed and we got it done. One of the worst business-decisions of my life. The amount of red tape, stupid rules, corruption, signatures, stamps, showing up physically in a certain office etc etc... Mindblowing.…

Back when GST was introduced, they asked all exporters of software services to pay the 18% GST and then claim a refund because exports are exempted. This was before they introduced a process to apply for a "NOC" (which must be renewed periodically I think). So, I duly paid GST for the first couple of months. 5 years later, I'm yet to receive the refunds. First, they said that they were authorized to only sanction ref…

This is exactly what happened to me.

Re: I tried starting a manufacturing unit in India (2020)

#152

Post by pjc50 »

sonthonax wrote: post #36
agileAlligator wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> It seems like the problem is that the author has a moral objection to paying bribes Duh?

There’s a distinction to be made between a small customary bribe to an seriously underpaid state employee, and a larcenous bribe to a high official.

Bribes scale up. How much is the underpaid state employee "tipping out" to his boss? Or had to pay to get the job in the first place?

Re: I tried starting a manufacturing unit in India (2020)

#153

Post by rish1_2 »

rish1_2 wrote: post #149

The right answer to most of this corruption is to create a system of check and balances with complete blinded information exchange between each check point so no one decision body is influenced by another. This is impossible to create because of vested interests and likely never happen.

America is closest to this but is not blinded so corruption still exists.

Re: I tried starting a manufacturing unit in India (2020)

#154

Post by [deleted] »

pythonbase wrote: post #140
klausjensen wrote: post #109

~5 years ago, I hired three Indian developers. They asked me if we could set up an Indian legal entity, so that they could just get regular salaries in India with tax payments, deductions etc taken care of. I agreed and we got it done. One of the worst business-decisions of my life. The amount of red tape, stupid rules, corruption, signatures, stamps, showing up physically in a certain office etc etc... Mindblowing.…

Perhaps they were looking for some under-the-table deal, commonplace in the government offices of the subcontinent, that you failed to realise. Here, you need to may money to get your money back.

[deleted]

Re: I tried starting a manufacturing unit in India (2020)

#155

Post by mmsimanga »

somat wrote: post #37
etaioinshrdlu wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Countries with high paperwork and bureaucratic burden are famous for also being highly corrupt. This is probably not a coincidence. Likely all the excess paperwork makes it easier to hide what's really going on, easy to provide roadblocks for those who don't pay, and easier to generally hide bad activity in a sea of noise.

The paperwork is an attempt(usually misguided) to stop the corruption. The idea is that if you have to account and document all actions you will have act in the proscribed manner and not in a way that benefits you. This usually fails for the reason you posted. I am not really sure how you are supposed to stop corruption once it gets rooted in your society. It is a vile and subversive menace that turns every one into…

It feels similar to the sometimes unintended consequence of having more legislation only serving to entrench the incumbents by making it hard for new players to enter. In a couple of African countries I am familiar with it is the same story. An endless series of papers and stamps and signatures that are supposed to stop corruption but really just serve as an opportunity to be corrupt. I am so paranoid now of not having the right paper I tend to store all papers issued by a government official.

Re: I tried starting a manufacturing unit in India (2020)

#156

Post by primitivesuave »

klausjensen wrote: post #109

~5 years ago, I hired three Indian developers. They asked me if we could set up an Indian legal entity, so that they could just get regular salaries in India with tax payments, deductions etc taken care of. I agreed and we got it done. One of the worst business-decisions of my life. The amount of red tape, stupid rules, corruption, signatures, stamps, showing up physically in a certain office etc etc... Mindblowing.…

I came to the comments to warn exactly this, perhaps more emphatically.

Do not set up a legal entity in India. It will become a never-ending void where money and time go to die. The bureaucracy is hilariously inept and bloated, and if you are not willing to pay the bribes or for some entity to navigate the systemic corruption on your behalf, you will end up in OP's situation.

Source: hired many Indian developers in recent years for a SV startup

Re: I tried starting a manufacturing unit in India (2020)

#157

Post by spaceman_2020 »

srmarm wrote: post #70
spaceman_2020 wrote: post #8

India's obsession with paperwork is unceasing and baffling. Everything requires an application, even when everything can be done digitally. You need letters and stamps to get anything done. Case in point: the "company stamps" that are required for everything you do with your business. From getting a debit card to changing the maturity instructions for a corporate deposit, you need to sign your name AND stamp it with…

I remember dropping my bag at a luggage store at the big train station in Mumbai. Bags needed to be scanned before being stored, not uncommon. Except the scanner was on the other side of the station. So I was sent off and queued up to get my bag scanned and more importantly get my receipt stamped to say it'd been scanned walked back through the crowds where I could have done anything with the bag - to the luggage dro…

Malls are the worst when it comes to security theater. Most will check your car's boot for illicit materials when you park. But they won't check the car's interios - you could have anything inside!

You'll usually be frisked at the mall entrance. Women will only get frisked by a female security guard. If the female security guard is absent (pretty common), any female visitor can just walk through without getting frisked.

Re: I tried starting a manufacturing unit in India (2020)

#158

Post by otikik »

ricardobayes wrote: post #122
ClumsyPilot wrote: post #100

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The video talk about Russian military handing out Million dollar contracts to companies registered weeks before the tender. Well, guess what, the exact same thing happened in UK for PPE contracts: "Within weeks of the company’s incorporation on 12 May 2020, PPE Medpro was awarded contracts worth £203m to supply millions of masks and gowns." https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2022/jan/07/michelle-mo...

It's actually kind of disturbing how there are basically only a handful of countries on the planet without systematic corruption. Maybe there are none. Perhaps it's a human trait.

I would go as far as to say that a little bit of corruption is healthy. It adds flexibility.

For example: you don't want to register your neighbor's daughter for taxes just so that she can babysit your child once or twice. That is crazytalk. And yes, a lot of countries make sure that small payments don't require registration or taxes. This was just a quick example to make the point, sometimes the general law is just not applicable to a local event and it is better that everyone ignores it.

But this is like cholesterol. The right amount in your body makes everything better. Too much and you are in deep trouble.

Re: I tried starting a manufacturing unit in India (2020)

#159

Post by devoutsalsa »

ricardobayes wrote: post #125
devoutsalsa wrote: post #105

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I was in Tunisia at the airport in Tunis for a departing flight. Having already checked online, I tried going through security with my electronic boarding pass. The security told me I needed my boarding pass. I pointed again to the electronic copy as politely as I could. The security said “this is Tunisia, you need the paper copy.” XD

Is smoking still allowed there indoors (in the airport)?

Not sure, I didn't notice. A lot of airports have a designated smoking room, but I think you're asking about smoking in general.

Re: I tried starting a manufacturing unit in India (2020)

#160

Post by spaceman_2020 »

jwr wrote: post #77
spaceman_2020 wrote: post #8

India's obsession with paperwork is unceasing and baffling. Everything requires an application, even when everything can be done digitally. You need letters and stamps to get anything done. Case in point: the "company stamps" that are required for everything you do with your business. From getting a debit card to changing the maturity instructions for a corporate deposit, you need to sign your name AND stamp it with…

> the "company stamps" that are required for everything you do with your business We had that craze in Poland, but somehow managed to slowly crawl out of it over the last 20 years. It was a slow and painful process: even when the laws were changed not to require stamps, many places would ask for them and you would have to explain that your company stamp doesn't exist, so you can't place one on the form. It's one of t…

We had waived off the requirements for stamps and signs when filing annual compliance documents during the pandemic. Everything worked just as well.

Now they've brought them back again.

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