The Hindu Business Line : Tea Board mulls legal action against IBM, Accenture

According to Mr Jairam Ramesh, Union Minister of State for Commerce, the software developed by these leading companies has failed to meet the requirements of the industry.

"It does not help in price realisation for the producers. Moreover, the system is not transparent. We may consider taking legal action against them," he told newspersons on Sunday.

Mr Basudeb Banerjee, Chairman of the Tea Board, said that the matter would be referred to the legal cell.

He added that no money was paid to IBM and for Accenture, part of the payment has been held back.

The total cost for developing software was Rs 65-70 lakh and its total national implementation was scheduled a year back.

Mr Ramesh said that NSE.IT, the company that developed the trading software for the NSE, has begun work on the software and would take another year to develop it.

"In reality, we have lost two years in implementing electronic auction. Our target is to shift the whole of existing manual auction to electronic auction. It is significant for the future of Indian tea industry."

However, he ruled out any law or rule that would force tea manufacturers to sell their total production through the e-auction mechanism. "It would be their most preferred choice. That's the way we wish to have it."

Despite the technical hitches, the software is being used by three South Indian auction centres - Coonoor, Kochi and Coimbatore - but with certain modifications. While the auction in Coonoor is 100 per cent electronic, in the other two it is partial.

In the auction centres of Kolkata, Siliguri, and Guwahati, little has been done in the area of electronic auctions.

Sources in the South India tea industry admitted there were defects in the software but added that they were rectified; currently, electronic auctions in these centres are taking place smoothly.

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