Handover of the automated VAT system from Vietnamese company stalls as none of Bangladesh's software firms responded to revenue board's call for takeover, officials said.
National Board of Revenue (NBR) sources say they have to drop their plan for makeover of the system this month from FPT as its contract, extended several times, would expire this month of March.
"We have renewed the contract with the FPT by another six months as no local companies responded to the tender invited earlier to award the contract," says Kazi Mustafizur Rahman, Commissioner of Customs Risk Management Unit, who supervises the automated VAT administration.
Mr Rahman, who was Project Director of the Tk 6.90 billion worth of VAT Online Project that expired on June, 30, 2021, said they would invite another tender soon in a desperate search for hiring a local company.
The Vietnamese firm, FPT, has been providing post-warrantee service since July 1, 2021.
The NBR developed the iVAS (integrated vat administration) with the support of FPT though there are several allegations over smooth operation of the system and full-fledged completion of the project.
Former VAT member of the revenue board Md Abdul Kafi says it's true the local companies' capacity to take over the complex automated system is still limited compared to that of Vietnam but performance of the company was not up to the mark given the current service delivery under the iVAS.
"When the FPT got the contract, Vietnam was not in that much better position than Bangladesh, but the country's adoption capacity to the ICT and new technology is better than ours," he explains.
There was allegation over the awarding of the contract through "intervention of influential lobby", he adds.
Mr Kafi, however, vents his dissatisfaction over so many manual interventions in VAT, complexities in refund procedures and overall conservative approach of some VAT officials towards making best use of automation.
An ICT-industry expert and former president of Bangladesh Association of Software and Information Services (BASIS), Syed Almas Kabir, says none of the local companies is willing to take risk of the half-hearted iVAS developed by FPT.
"It would be difficult to maintain the system at the stage where local companies' participation invited," he adds.
In case of international tendering, Mr Kabir found tricky conditions such as eligibility prerequisite for bidding companies of billion-dollar investment, and working experiences in many countries which are the major barriers facing the local companies to participate, despite having skills in ICT.
Currently, many local ICT companies are working on SAP, on which iVAS has been developed, which was absent two-three years back.
The NBR effort to take over the IVAS started in 2020 by training up its own officials, which was later turned down as VAT officials are skeptical about the existing capacity of VAT officials in dealing with the VAT online system developed by the FPT.
Knowledge on SAP-ERP module to take over the IVAS technology is necessary to handle the IVAS.
Under VOP, the NBR has automated VAT registration, online VAT- return submission and e-payment.
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