1. Qtrove.com: Online market place for all things sustainable and curated
Vinamra Pandiya, CEO and Founder, Qtrove.com: We are very keen about the 2017 budget and are excited about Mr. Jaitley’s announcement of the same on 1st Feb. As an e commerce startup, we look forward to receiving some more clarity for FDI in B2C e-commerce through an automatic route. We also hope for a provision of enabling marketplaces to give a discount from their side. Besides this, we are also expecting relaxation of the rule of 'not more than 25% of the business coming from one vendor for marketplaces.' And lastly, I feel quite a lot of entrepreneurs are awaiting the implementation of GST at the earliest to enable cross state logistics with minimum constraints and friction.
2. Giftease.com: India’s biggest online gifting portal
Vivek Mathur, CEO at Giftease Technologies Pvt. Ltd : “The current financial year has seen some landmark reforms, which should help boost tax collection. Hence, there are strong expectations of a significant cut in income taxes, for both corporates & individuals. Overall, consumption has been severely impacted in the last couple of months, and firm steps to boost consumption & improve consumer sentiment, are crucial for the retail & ecommerce sectors”.
3. The Man Company: Premium Men’s Grooming brand
Rohit Chawla, CEO and Co – Founder, The Man Company: The last couple of months have definitely created an impact for most ecommerce and FMCG brands selling online. In this budget, we are expecting the government to take steps that will boost consumption and sales. How the government goes about digitisation of the economy will be interesting to know. We hope that there are provisions that encourage digital payments over cash transactions. We are also expecting a smooth execution of GST.
4. LiveHealth: Keeping your healthcare records live
Abhimanyu Bhosale, Co - Founder, CEO at Livehealth : The year started amidst the wave of demonetization and we are anticipating effective execution of the roadmaps laid by the Modi movement. Clear and measurable timelines is what is most important. Supportive financial systems and an uncomplicated process in getting clearances along with the provision of tax are some of the key expectations for the startup ecosystem to thrive and boom in the country. The interesting thing to look forward for this budget would be, how the government promotes and incentivise electronic payments to minimize economic slowdown as much as possible. We are hopeful that the government promotes authentication of e-based payments, where the entire process from signup, authentication and transfer is smooth, simple and secure. We are hopeful that the union budget 2017 will be positive for the entire startup ecosystem
5. SpiderG: India’s first e invoicing technology provider for SMEs
Ashwani Rathore, CEO and Co - Founder, SpiderG: “As a startup we face various tax and regulatory issues and I am hoping that this union budget will address some of these issues. Last financial year was tough for Indian startup ecosystem and to make the situation better Employee Stock ownership (ESOP) plans for the startups should be taxed at the time of sale which would help in paying their taxes as they would have greater liquidity and the instruments could also get a fair valuation. Government should announce a series of initiatives to support the startups, including widening of the tax-free regime to five years from three years and faster procedural clearances. Such announcements will boost our honorable PM’s Startup India movement. I am also expecting some announcements at the backdrop of demonetization to promote the digital economy where online payment transaction charges would be reduced.”
