Flipkart increases paid up capital to be a GST Suvidha Provider

Flipkart Internet Pvt Limited, the company that owns and runs India's leading ecommerce portal Flipkart, is increasing its paid up capital in a bid to acquire a licence to become a GST Suvidha Provider.

Flipkart, which has recently recieved about $2.5 billion from SoftBank, has mentioned in filings with the Registrar of Companies that it intends to become a GSP since there are many online sellers and traders who may not be compliant with GST.

Consequently , the company has increased its paid-up to Rs 2 crore from its existing Rs 48.43 lakh to become eligible for GST Suvidha Provider (GSP) licence. Under existing rules , GSP need to have a minimum paid up capital of Rs 2 crore.

In its filing to the Registrar of Companies, that was accessed on business research platform Tofler, Flipkart has mentioned that the company has increased the paid-up capital to Rs 2 crore to obtain a GSP license. The company plans to issue bonus shares by issuing 7 new shares for every 2 shares held.

The company, in a board meeting held on 24th August 2017, has approved to issue bonus shares by way of a special resolution, the RoC document stated.

GST was implemented in India with effect from July 2017. The Government has allowed eligible corporates to apply for GSP license. A GSP is considered as an enabler for the tax payer to comply with the provisions of the GST law through its web platform, an essentially an online compliance platform.

GSPs need not be only ERP companies but can be startups or technology companies having expertise in building web applications. GSPs can facilitate the tax payers in uploading invoices as well as filing of returns and act as a single stop for GST related services. They can also customise products that address the needs of different segment of users.

Earlier this year, Flipkart along with 38 internet firms including ClearTax and Intuit India, had applied for a GSP licence to be able to transfer invoices under the Goods and Services Tax directly to the central database.