BuaNews
A hotline set up by government to fast-track payment to small businesses has answered more than 25 000 calls and facilitated payments in excess of R280 million by February this year.
The Public Sector SMME Payment Assistance Hotline was established by Trade and Industry Minister Rob Davies in September 2009 to ensure that late payments to small businesses were kept to a minimum and that SMME’s cash-flow woud not be affected negatively.
Davies told Parliament recently that National Treasury had issued practice notes to all national and provincial departments, including state-owned enterprises on the requirement of 30 days payment to small enterprises. This is in accordance with Treasury regulations with a view to address cash-flow challenges faced by small enterprises.
Since its formation, the Hotline has taken up 7 109 late payment queries with public sector institutions on behalf of small businesses and, of these, 5 155 have been successfully resolved.
In the two-and-a-half years the Hotline had been operational it had identified common challenges, faced by both SMMEs and public sector institutions, which lead to late payments.
You can contact the Public Sector SMME Payment Assistance Hotline on 0860 7663 729 (0860 SMME PAY ) or through its website at www.acall.co.za
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