Twitter Seva To Be Launched Today

The government is all set to launch its new initiative ‘Twitter Seva’ today – a helpline for entrepreneurs on micro-blogging site Twitter.

The announcement was made last week, by Nirmala Sitharaman, Union Minister of State, Commerce & Industry.

‘Twitter Seva’ is expected to work as a source of direct point of contact for entrepreneurs seeking funding, support or government assistance of any kind.

Users can visit the Twitter Seva Registration Link to register for the service.

Initially, the queries sent on ‘Twitter Seva’ will be monitored by top officials of the Ministry of Commerce including Sitharaman. The officers will  connect entrepreneurs to various stakeholders such as venture capitalists, incubation centres, and will look after issues with government clearances.

The service may face a few challenges –

• The verification process has been implemented to check that a query is posted through a bona fide Twitter account. However, there have been cases where fake ids have been used to create Twitter accounts. So, verification might not help every time.
• Being a micro-blogging site, Twitter has massive traffic, and as such keeping track of all queries manually may prove to be a difficult task.
• Difference in the solutions provided online and in offices can be a major confusion too.

However, the service will definitely open new channels of communication between the government and major stakeholders in the startup ecosystem.

The startup community welcomed the new service. A few people from the startup world came forward and expressed their expectations from the service.

Anup Sahoo, Founder of Ideapoke-

• Clear action items from the Government
• Timeline for completing actions
• Address required policy changes
• Define a framework to foster innovation
• Redirect to right person in the Government organisation for specific issue

Integrity of audience with government personnel is the first thing that should be paid attention to. Transparency is of utmost importance here as it will help syndicate the workforce and help create better services/products for the consumers. Only through a thorough and creative conversation will an effective solution be reached.

In light of the recent report by KPMG and CB Insights, with investments going down by 24% towards startups, this service is encouraging startups to avail government support – not just in terms of monetary support but also through engaging participation in creating products that are affordable, and also the business model scalable, which in turn will encourage investors.

Avinash Tiwary, Director at PCloudy

A direct interface between the Govt. and startups is a welcome step. I expect that it will lead to faster resolution of issues faced by startups. Eventually, it should also lead to better policies and easier rules for start-ups to operate.

I think the key to success of the Twitter Seva would be a time bound response and resolution of the issues raised by startup community. It’s good step towards boosting an ecosystem for startups. If it leads to faster clearances of issue faced by startups, it would benefit investors as well.

Piyush Agarwal, CEO & founder of Superprofs

Twitter Seva can benefit startups in a lot of ways. It’ll be great if this service can cover the following aspects:

• Help early stage startups with fundamental queries regarding how to register a company, filing of taxes, etc.
• Provide a transparent platform where startups can post concerns and have them answered
• Reduce redundant bureaucratic impediments that may hamper the launch/growth of a startup
• Mentor startups and guide them away from common pitfalls that have engulfed other companies in the past
• Listen to suggestions/grievances that are posted, and implement policies that will address the same faster

Moksha Srivastava, CMO & co-founder of Wheelstreet

• Direct contact with the right officials at the right time
• We expect the service to be fast and effective
• There will be a lot of instances when we face a lot of ambiguity in rules, regulations and laws. Support for queries regarding legal issues must be a major part of the service
• This service will make things more transparent and we would love to have the right information from the right people. This reduces the chances of us being cheated at a lower level

Note: We at Inc42 take our ethics very seriously. More information about it can be found here.