Mohandas Pai slams RBI, CBIC for 'harassment' of small exporters; urges Piyush Goyal to act on red tape

Mohandas Pai, former CFO of Infosys, called on the government to reduce documentation burden for small exporters. Terming the compliance burden a ‘harassment’, Pai in a post on X (formally Twitter) wrote, “Minister @PiyushGoyal pl have a look. How can small exporters survive with so much of documentation from @cbic and @RBI This harassment is too much. When will we have EODB? @DPIITGoI @RBI RBI just does not care for citizens. They are a law into themselves with no accountability.”  

The post also tagged Prime Minister Narendra Modi, PMO, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and the Finance Ministry. 

Pai’s post was in response to a harrowing experience shared on Reddit by an entrepreneur, who flagged the documentation burden on small exports. 

In a post titled "Why you should not try exporting from India Vent & Rant," Reddit user Limp-Question-4778 detailed his four-year ordeal, declaring, "All the talk of ease of doing business is just talk and no walk. You are better off moving to Dubai and exporting from there than from India." 

The entrepreneur, from a small Indian village, initially found success domestically, handling between 300-400 daily orders. His troubles began when international customers showed interest in 2022. The complicated requirements he faced included obtaining an IEC Certificate, registering on ICEGATE, securing an AD code from the bank, and mandatory shipping through licensed couriers — procedures he described as "nonsensical for a $30 export." 

The situation worsened when a customer rejected a shipment, prompting the Indian government to levy GST charges twice — once for the outgoing shipment and again for its return. "We had to pay GST TWICE on a shipment on which we did not earn a penny," he wrote, highlighting how punitive rules burden small businesses. 

Further complications arose from a document called CSB 5, a mandatory shipping bill exporters must retain. Due to poor integration between Customs, GST, and RBI systems, in 2024 he discovered approximately ₹50 lakh worth of "open" shipping bills. Closing each incurred a fee of ₹400, totalling ₹8 lakh—roughly 16% of his turnover. Unable to meet the tight deadline, RBI marked his account non-compliant, freezing it and effectively ending his export operations. 

The entrepreneur claimed that despite writing numerous times to RBI and even provided detailed diagrams explaining his situation to Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal’s office he only received silence in return. 

Several netizens replied to Pai’s post highlighting their plights. 

“Even for getting a simple GST registration for an individual consultant (supposed to be online clearance), I was asked to pay bribes. As I didn't, it went for 'in-person' visit by babus. When they came, it was a harrowing experience of endless documents. When I agreed to pay, it was cleared with no extra papers!! @TVMohandasPai, my case is not alone. No use complaining to @PiyushGoyal! He will assure another 'online grievance redressal'! You will have another round of bribes!!” wrote a user. 

Another commented, “Unless ministers - bureaucrats experience real life issues how will they understand & bring change. While our bureaucracy is immune to change we do have hopes in PY.”