‘Lockdown helped us realise benefits of work from home’

WITH its offices based in Amritsar, Ludhiana and New Delhi, BD Bansal and Company, a leading tax consulting firm, has been providing professional services like direct taxes, execution of joint ventures, acquisition and mergers, besides conducting audits before the Partition of the country. Satish Bansal, director of the company, is a Fellow Chartered Accountant of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India, New Delhi. In an interview with Neeraj Bagga, Bansal said the business scenario will change once things start normalising. The demand which was there before the lockdown will return. However, entrepreneurs will value time management and prefer electronic platform. Excerpts:

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How has the lockdown impacted your business?

Our clients include big business industries and we provide them auditing, advisory and assurance services. They have been badly impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic and the exact extent of losses may be assessed in times to come. However, the lockdown helped us realise the benefits of work from home and how to survive in difficult times such as these through innovation and self-reliance.

Do you expect any of your businesses to start running in the near future?

We have been providing services to big industrial units and companies, but it will definitely require the changes on account of the effect of the Covid-19 pandemic. No doubt, there will be many new challenges which we may never think of. We were planning to expand by opening the fourth office in Gurgaon and hiring more staff, but we have kept the idea on hold and will think of it once normalcy returns.

Did you pay salaries to your staff during the lockdown period?

We neither retrenched staff nor delayed the payment of salaries to employees during the lockdown period.

What are the lessons you have learnt from the lockdown as a businessman?

One must have enough savings to meet any challenge during lockdown-like crisis. One must have an alternative plan to arrange cash even during the closure of business and banks. The Covid-19 pandemic and the lockdown helped us introspect and realise our strengths and weaknesses.

What are your expectations from the government?

The government should lay more emphasis on the revival of industries and businesses and should give them free hand to run and postpone all the applicable laws for the year under consideration. The applicable taxes should be allowed to be deposited in two instalments, i.e. December 2020 and March 2021. The government should utilise this time for updating themselves rather than approaching the industry and business houses for enquiries. The applicability of labour laws should at least be postponed during these difficult times of Covid.