Cases of delayed payments to MSEs reach 26,893 in 3 years, Narayan Rane tells House

Micro Small and Medium Enterprises Minister Narayan Rane, in a written response, informed the Parliament that an a total of 26,893 delayed payment cases by MSEs are pending through the last three years.

Rane said that MSEs had filed a total of 96,771 cases on the Samadhaan portal in the last three years, amounting to Rs 25,404 crore.

MSME Samadhaan is a delayed-payment monitoring portal. It is governed by Micro and Small Enterprise Facilitation Councils at the state level for settlement of disputes arising out of delayed payments to MSEs by government departments, ministries and central public sector enterprises. Under MSME Samadhaan, after a case is referred to a state MSEFC, a decision has to be made within 90 days.

If payment is delayed beyond 45 days, MSEs can approach MSEFCs to fast-track the settlement of dues. MSMEs have to file applications for delayed payments against the buyer with the MSEFC in their state. After examining the case, the MSEFC directs the purchaser to pay the dues along with interest.

In another response, the minister noted that from FY20, some 6,159 cases have been disposed by MSEFCs, involving an amount of Rs 2,905.15 crore.

Earlier this year, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, during the monsoon session of Parliament, had said that the Centre will clear all dues to MSMEs within 45 days. “I am personally monitoring this,” she said.

In her reply to the Lok Sabha, Sitharaman called government dues to MSMEs a “very critical issue”. She added that it has been “reviewed over the past year (2020) from the point of view of the central government and the various departments which owe money to the MSMEs, inclusive of public sector undertakings (PSUs)” and it has been decided that payments will be made within 45 days.