THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan had announced that rent will be waived for all small and mid-sized IT companies with a floor area below 10,000 sq ft in state-owned IT parks. That brought startups much cheer. But the government order (GO) issued soon after only mentions waiver for non-IT vendors or institutions under 10,000 sq ft.
The Group of Technology (GTech) companies has written to the CM seeking rent waiver for small and mid-size IT firms too as they are suffering because of the financial setback in the aftermath of the coronavirus pandemic. The government is yet to take a call.
On February 19, the CM had even tweeted: “Rent waived off from Jul to Dec ‘20 for all firms occupying <10,000 sq. ft. in GoK IT Parks. IT & ITeS firms occupying up to 25,000 sq. ft. will get a waiver for 10,000 sq. ft. from Apr to Jun ‘20, and moratorium declared in Apr ‘20 will be valid for the remaining space.” Pinarayi made the announcement in a meeting with GTech on February 17.
The Government Order issued the next day clearly mentioned that “rent shall be waived for the months from July to December 2020 to non-IT shops and establishments operating from Government-owned buildings in Government IT parks occupying space up to 10,000 sq ft”.
This means the government has considered only firms below 10,000 sq ft for non-IT vendors such as restaurants, banks, and firms offering laundry and other services for IT employees. TNIE had earlier reported the plight of non-IT vendors in the IT parks as they sought relaxation and rent waiver. A majority of firms in both Technopark and Infopark have space below 10,000 sq ft. And they will not get the waiver benefits till December 2020, though they got the waiver for three months, from April to June, 2020. “Companies with at least 10,000 sq ft are considered big firms as they employ a minimum of 150 people. Our company has only 800 sq ft with a minimum number of employees.
We are not a multi-crore firm and hence we need a waiver till December 2020. The government should issue a revised order,” said Amaljith S (name changed), a startup owner in Technopark. According to the request letter sent by GTech chairman Sunil Jose to the government, the only relief measure in the GO was the extension of rent waiver for companies holding space up to 25,000 sq ft for April, May and June in 2020.“The industry, which was relieved after your announcement, is left with practically no support at all, contrary to the sentiment post your industry interaction which you personally had to understand the situation the smaller companies, in particular, are going through,” GTech said in the letter to the CM.
“Many small companies are on the verge of closing down and there is tremendous pressure on those companies to leave their space, while scores of companies have already left to optimise their costs. This will send a wrong message to the industry, and likewise, companies leaving will bring down the revenue of the parks,” GTech added.
Govt to formulate welfare scheme for IT employees
The Cabinet has decided to formulate a special scheme for the welfare of employees in IT and IT-enabled services companies functioning in the state. It will come under the Kerala Shops and Commerical Establishments Workers’ Welfare Fund Board. Besides family pension, the employees will get maternity, marriage, medical and education benefits.