NBR deal to give Genex Infosys 200% revenue boost

Infographic: TBS

Genex Infosys – largest business process outsourcing provider -- has landed the job of installing electronic fiscal devices and sales data controllers for the National Board of Revenue (NBR), which is expected to boost the provider's revenue by around 200% for the next 10 years.

The company will also monitor the operation of the devices to be installed to ensure proper collection of value-added tax (VAT) at thousands of retail and wholesale stores in Dhaka and Chattogram.

"The 10-year agreement with NBR is expected to generate approximate gross revenue of Tk212 crore per year upon full rollout within the next five years," Md Jewel Rashed Sarker, chief financial officer (CFO) of Genex Infosys, told The Business Standard.  

In fiscal 2021-22, its revenue from business and various services was Tk125 crore. The new deal is expected to triple the revenue.

The tax authorities have taken the initiative to set up electronic fiscal devices (EFDs) and sales data controllers (SDCs) for the collection of VAT and supplementary duty from different types of business entities through the Electronic Fiscal Device Management System.

As a result, Genex Infosys has been tasked as the vendor to set up and operate EFDs, and SDCs through outsourcing, which will collect VAT and SD on behalf of the government.

The company will install these machines at its own cost, for which it will get a commission of 0.53%. That is, if the government gets a VAT of Tk100, the company will get a commission of Tk0.53.

Moinul Khan, NBR member VAT wing, told The Business Standard that even though a private company installs the devices, traders will get these for free.

Genex Infosys will set up 3 lakh EFDs and SDCs in two zones of Customs, Excise and VAT Commissionerate in Dhaka and another in Chattogram within the next five years. Accordingly, it will install 60,000 devices every year and 20,000 devices will be installed in each zone per year.

The installation cost of the devices will be around Tk1,000 crore, said Genex's company secretary.

Basically, NBR has taken this initiative to increase revenue collection from VAT and SD. So far NBR has installed 7,397 EFDs and 435 SDCs at various retail outlets.

According to a stock exchange disclosure on Sunday, under this agreement, Genex Infosys will distribute EFDs and SDCs among eligible retailers and wholesalers and monitor the operation of the installed machines to ensure the collection of VAT and SD.

"Along with that, Genex Infosys will also develop a software solution, termed VAT API system for interfacing with EFD/SDC machines and integrating with ERP/POS solutions existing in the market," read the disclosure.

On 7 September, Genex Infosys said it has renewed its contract with Banglalink Digital Communications Ltd which will generate Tk60 crore in revenue for the call centre in the next five years.

According to the company, the two parties first signed the contract in 2017 for a tenure of five years.

Genex Infosys Limited is the leading outsourcing provider of customer experience management companies which works with various kinds of organisations across the country and beyond the borders as well.

Its call centre business started in 2013. By getting through challenges in its initial years, it has now become the largest call centre in the country with more than 2,000 seats and full-set equipment.

Alongside Banglalink, Genex provides call centre services to Grameenphone, Robi, and Airtel as well.

Genex also handles the government information service helpline number 333, which is one of the two largest government call centres in Bangladesh.

Besides, the company does many back-office tasks for international companies like Uber. In addition, many banks outsource their back-office banking services to Genex.

Genex Infosys got listed on the stock market in 2019.

In fiscal 2021-22, the company saw a 22% growth in revenue and 17% in its net profit after tax.

Its revenue grew to Tk125 crore, and profit to Tk39 crore, which was Tk102 crore, and Tk33 crore respectively in fiscal 2020-21.

The company has recommended an 11% cash dividend for general shareholders except for sponsor-directors and a 2% stock dividend for all.

On Sunday, its shares closed 9.95% higher at Tk96.10 each on the Dhaka Stock Exchange.