Cloud over e-wallet for exporters, mechanism may miss April 1 deadline

Industry and govt had hit upon the mechanism more than four months ago, as a way to tide over the liquidity crunch faced by traders

A little more than four months after its announcement, the proposed e-wallet mechanism to help exporters pay the goods and services tax (GST) has seen little progress and could miss its April 1 deadline, senior government and business sources said.

Exporters had suggested the mechanism to the finance ministry as a way out of the liquidity crunch they were in since the GST roll-out last July. The mechanism was adopted at the 22nd GST Council meet on October 6, with an April 1 deadline.

That target was likely to be missed because a workable model of an online transaction platform was yet