Some do's and don'ts while representing to the Government

Recently a webinar was organized by a Chamber of Commerce where a senior CBIC functionary addressed questions by the Trade and Industry. While responding to various demands by the audience he requested that when they represent to the Government, they should first evaluate whether it is possible to implement the suggestion they have made. This really summarizes how the Government would like to get suggestions from the Trade and Industry during the COVID time. 

I list below some of the do's and don'ts for the industry when it makes representation to the Government. These are based on my experience as an officer who evaluated representations when I was in the Ministry and as a part of the Trade and Industry for last 16 years, when I made such representations to the Government.

Clearly explain the pain

Most of the time, a representation made to the Government is about the pain felt by the industry. If we want a resolution to the problem, it is necessary to clearly articulate the problem. If a particular formula for refund is creating a problem for the industry it is necessary to give a numerical example to bring out how it adversely affects in a particular situation/s.

It is necessary to clearly mention which industry is impacted by a situation mentioned in the representation. If a section of an industry is impacted, then that particular section should be clearly mentioned e.g. ‘exporters in the pharmaceutical sector’ instead of ‘pharmaceutical sector’ or ‘commercial vehicles manufacturers’ instead of ‘auto OEMs’. That helps government officer to understand the impact area. Often there are industry specialists who deal with a particular industry. The representation can then go to the concerned person who is knowledgeable about the industry.

Suggest a practical solution

Chances of the representation being heard improve if we can provide an indicative solution. If possible, it is better to give more than one solution. That may help the officer start his/her thinking process. A solution far from reality (e.g. having the single rate of GST), will have lesser chances of succeeding. If a similar solution is implemented under other laws (e.g. Customs or Income tax) or another industry that should be clearly mentioned as precedence has a great value in the way Government functions.

Quantify the impact

Each relaxation that Government offers can potentially reduce its revenue. If the industry can help by providing data on how much negative impact the suggested solution can have on Government revenue it can help the officer in estimating. If, for example, we demand exemption from GST on a particular product, it would be prudent to give data on how much would be the net loss (as a percentage of selling price) to the Government considering that input tax credit would not be available to the taxpayer. A sample study by the industry association can give a broad indication of impact, to the Government before it can evaluate the option. 

Suggesting the legal provision

Often a representation pertains to a suggestion regarding provision in the law. If we ask for an amendment in the provision, it may help to give a suggested provision in the representation as it can help the officer to build his/her work upon. If we are seeking a clarification, it may help to frame a paragraph giving a clarification. It is not that the officer will necessarily use the suggested wording, but it substantially reduces the processing time as it hastens the thinking process.

Sundry points

Representation should not be too long. Normally a two -three page write up is sufficient to explain an issue. It is a good idea to keep the main representation small and add annexures that give the details (e.g extracts of judgements, extracts from reports , computations and sample study). Remember that the concerned officer has to summarise the representation in the file with his/her comments and a smaller representation would save his/her time to make such a note.

Unnecessary details, longish introductions should be avoided. I recently came across a representation which started with India’s liberalization journey in the early 1990’s. Such introductions have no place in the representation. It would always help to come directly to the point in the first paragraph itself.

If the representation has more than one demand, it is better to group these demands in different buckets (law provisions, rate requests, procedural simplification etc) and put the most important ones in the beginning of the letter so that the reader can keep alive his/her interest till end.

Last but not the least, it is important to know whom a representation should be addressed to. Each department, each functional area and each officer have their own defined area of work. Identifying who would be the concerned person is a difficult task but would hasten the process substantially. Otherwise a representation to a wrong authority may just lie unattended in a file. 

 (Views and opinions expressed herein are those of the author and do not reflect the views of KPMG in India.)