India doesn't have an information problem. It has a sequencing problem. The recent case of a Hyderabad CA allegedly issuing fake Form 15CB certificates that facilitated ₹600 cr in foreign remittances - amid a wider I-T probe into 394 entities and 36 professionals - brought the issue into focus.
But the policy question is bigger than whether a particular certificate was issued correctly or not. How can a transaction pass through tax, banking and trade systems, with each system holding a piece of information, without those pieces being brought together before the money leaves India? The answer should not be another layer of paperwork, but a better-designed system in which the existing information is used at the right time.
