Startups flag legal issues

Commerce and industry minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday met founders of startups to look into various issues faced by them.

“We were keen to know as how the startup activity is going on. Their expectation from government and their difficulties relating to various ministries,” said the minister after the meeting. She said that startups raised issued concerning taxation, various compliance and also some sectoral issues.

The minister said that she instructed officials that inter-ministerial discussion be held to resolve sectoral issues raised by startups.

“We shared our experiences on what difficulties we face and how could you make it easier for start ups to work,” said MapMyGenome CEO Anu Acharya.

She said that most startups don’t know about regulations and they end up getting hit by drastic measures (by government agencies).

“It’s when suddenly somebody’s operations are halted. Or someone comes and stops something. We suggested simplifying regulations or just creating all information at one place,” said Acharya.

She said start up face inter-departmental issues as they dont know where to go. “Sometime you dont know which department you are supposed to go. Who will answer those questions,” she said.