The Top 15 FAQs About The Productivity Solutions Grant (PSG)

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It is not surprising to learn that Singapore is a step in front when bidding to expedite digital transformation to enter a future that relies on cutting-edge technologies. As Singapore offers many financial assistive grants for local companies to thrive with technological luxuries, we will be learning of an assistive grant offered to local companies in Singapore in specifically adopting technological solutions. One of many government-aided assistive measures is the PSG, unabbreviated as Productivity Solutions Grant. The PSG is a grant that sponsors companies that are willing to deploy equipment and IT solutions to elevate their existing businesses processes to be better, faster and more relevant. 

To elaborate, this assistive scheme encompasses purchasing, subscribing or leasing any equipment or IT solution (pre-approved by the PSG scope) that will be used in Singapore. If you are an organisation based in Singapore and are willing to upgrade the business processes of your company, this is a grant that you must not miss, for it can cover 80% (as declared by the Resilience Budget, the PSG’s maximal support level has been extended until the 30th of September 2021) of the eligible costs that you incur in adopting technological systems. Today, we will guide you through 15 FAQs about this funding programme to help you understand everything you want to know about applying and being benefited by this grant.

The Top 15 FAQs asked by PSG recipients

Q1: Am I an eligible recipient to apply for PSG?

You are eligible to apply for the PSG if you are meeting all the demands in the eligibility criteria for applying to PSG. You have to comply with the following points:

  • You must be an organisation that is based and registered in Singapore.
  • You must be a shareholder of at least 30% of local shareholding
  • The group employment total of your company must not exceed 200 employees
  • The cumulative annual sales turnover per annum must not exceed S$ 100 million
  • The equipment or IT solution that you wish to lease, subscribe or purchase must be used in Singapore
  • You must not settle any payment related to the particular equipment or technological solution afore applying to PSG
  • You must not have signed any legal contract related to the particular equipment or technological solution afore applying to PSG
  • Your organisation must not fall under the following categories:
    • IPCs (Institutions of public characters or charities)
    • VWO (Voluntary Welfare Organisation)
    • Religious organisation
    • Agencies and subsidiaries that are administered by the government
Q2 : What are the supportable costs that will be covered by PSG?
The applicant must note that no extra costs -unless otherwise stated- will be covered by the PSG claims other than the actual cost (the purchasing, hiring or leasing cost) of adopting the pre-approved equipment, or IT solution. Which means all other costs such as the extra administrative charges like the cost of delivering and cost of installation will not be covered by the PSG claims.
Q3: Is there an annual grant limit for PSG?
The fiscal year for receiving grants by the ESP officially commences on the 1st of April every year and ends on the 31st of March. During each year the applicant would be supported by this financial assistive body of a grant that caps for S$ 30,000 for PSG receivables. The applicant must be aware that once they reach the aforementioned grant cap they will no longer be eligible for extended grants within the validity period of the particular grant cap. Such companies can request for new claims in the new year (after the 1st of April of the following year) since the grant caps for the company will be refreshed at the beginning of each grant year. Therefore, it is highly recommended to exercise with well-planned purchases before applying for PSG receivables.
Q4: What are the prerequisite documents I need to apply for PSG?

To apply for PSG your company will have to follow a few straightforward steps. Before you submit the application on the BGP (Business Grants Portal) you have to decide whether you are applying for IT solutions, consultancy services or equipment. After accessing what your business requires you can follow the following steps based on your nature of the application.

  1. You will have to receive a signed contract or quotation from your supplier.
    • If you are applying for an IT Solution: Make a request and receive an unsigned quotation from a pre-approved vendor
    • If you are applying for equipment: Notify the source of the equipment, make a request and receive an unsigned quotation from a pre-approved hardware vendor
  2. A purchase invoice of the product or service you desire to adopt (not mandatory if the quotation is submitted)
  3. You also have to make sure that no legal document is signed before submitting a PSG application via the BGP portal
  4. Also, you must make sure that no financial settlement is made related to the IT solution or equipment that you are wishing to claim via PSG before submitting the application
Q5: How can I submit my PSG application to the BGP?

Once you have the necessary documents, you have to submit an application to the BGP (Business Grants Portal). Given below is the sequential array of steps you must follow to submit an application for this financial assistive programme. Please note that you must already have a CorpPass account to proceed in this portal. You can also use a CorpPass of someone you know if you provide a letter of authorisation stating that the CorpPass wishes to authorise the applicant to use their CorpPass access.

  1. Login to your BGP via your CorpPass account and click on the ‘My Grants’ tab
  2. Select ‘Get New Grant’
  3. Select your respective business sector out of the choices given
  4. Tap on ‘Upgrade key business areas, such as adopt technology, improve business processes or raise service standards.’
  5. Then click on the button >> ‘Pre-scoped Productivity Solutions’
  6. Click on ‘Yes’ if your company meets the eligibility criteria
  7. Fill in the required details by mentioning the main contact person and the Letter of Offer Addressee details
  8. Choose whether you are applying for an ‘IT solution’ or ‘Equipment.’
  9. Choose Vendor details and fill in the rest of the details precisely
  10. Upload the unsigned quotation received by the pre-approved vendor
  11. Mention all details about your deployment location accurately
  12. Mention all details of project costs
  13. Continue filling details on overall impact and productivity gains in the ‘Business Impact’ tab.
  14. Complete all the information required in completing the declaration
  15. Indicate your consent and acknowledgement by ticking the box given below
  16. Please review your application and submit it on a valid date

Click here to download a PDF of the steps illustrated with graphical steps to submit your application for PSG.

Q6: What will PSG cover if I am an eligible applicant?

PSG is a fund that covers either the equipment or IT solutions that you are anticipating to employ in your business. Sector-specific solutions can be claimed under certain regulations including software and hardware that are applicable for industrial genres such as retails, logistics, tourism, media, food and beverages, healthcare, building and construction, precision engineering and landscaping industries and more. Additionally, it covers solutions that are developed to optimise business’s functional growth such as inventory tracking, customer management, financial management, data analytics, operations management and more. Click here to access a full list of pre-scoped equipment, IT solutions and consultancy services that are categorised based on the applicant’s sectors for your convenience; click on ‘Overview’ tab to expand the lists.

Q7: What if I am making a special demand on an unlisted IT solution or vendor’s service?
Unfortunately, if your demand is not a pre-approved IT solution, equipment or consultancy service that does not fall under the approved scope of PSG, you would not be supported by this funding programme. There will be no pre-qualified vendors when requesting grants for deploying equipment, but you must be well-apprehended about the minimal specifications that must be met by the equipment that you are about to demand. Therefore you must read and familiarise yourself with the list mentioned in Q6 before applying for a PSG claim.
Q8: How many PSG grants can I apply for?

You have the propensity to submit more than one application for the PSG grant, yet it depends on your business needs. Nevertheless, the financial support can only be provided for a single package per solution category to one deployment location. For instance, if you apply for the same IT solution for the same deployment location for a second time your application will be invalidated and not processed- it will be rejected. Also when applying for applications to employ remote workspaces, you can only apply for a single solution per category (either virtual meeting tools or online collaboration tools). Given below is an instance where the claim will be deemed as ‘supportable’: purchasing either an IT solution or Equipment per one deployment address, and then subsequently purchase the same item to be deployed at a different location. Therefore it is possible for you to submit concurrent applications too as long as they are not repeatedly addressed to a single deployment address with the same requests.

Q9: Does the covid 19 pandemic situation affect the application processing time for PSG submission?
The average duration that will be taken to process the PSG grants is from 4 weeks to 6 weeks from the date of submission. But yes, the pandemic situation does have a higher impact in pooling up an abundance of applicants for the PSG grant since the demand for Remote Working Solutions has risen. An additional time would be taken depending on the complexity of your demand and availability of the processing officers; they would take extra time to investigate and clarify certain information with you. Unfortunately, the COVID-19 support solutions requested before the 31st of December 2020 will only be assessed by the government. COVID- 19 support solutions would roughly be processed for a time period of 6 to 8 weeks. Please note that you are no longer allowed to make demands that were specially allowed as ‘COVID-19 support solutions’.
Q10: How do I know that my PSG request is being processed?

You will be notified via an email if your submission was eligible and approved by the PSG grant administering body. To view the real-time status of your request you can log in to your BGP account and click on the tab, ‘My Applications’ to view how your application is being conveniently processed by toggling from one phase to another. The phases your application will be processed through are: ‘Draft’, ‘Processing’, ‘Actions Required’, and ‘Completed’. If the application is being turned for special clarification for further processing, a reminder email will be sent to your email address, then you will have to make the necessary clarification via your BGP portal or else the applications will be withdrawn by Enterprise Singapore (ESG).

Q11: Can I edit my application details (i.e vendor details, IT solution)?

If the application you submitted is still in the process of being updated and reworked you can withdraw the application and submit a fresh application by following the same procedure with correct information. You have to make sure that you inform ESG about your withdrawal of the incorrect application by writing to [email protected] for a ‘Withdrawal of an Application’ where you will be instructed as required thereafter.

Significantly, if you are trying to change your application’s vendor you can make changes in the original document if you are choosing a vendor in the same sector (if not you will have to resubmit your application). If you are changing the vendor of the same sector you can edit the vendor details and resubmit the quotation and let the original application proceed. Please note that you will not be able to apply for IT packages where the vendor’s contracts expire during the time of submission.

Q12: Can the equipment of IT solution be used by any other entity than my company?
No. The solution, equipment of consultancy service must only be deployed by the applicant’s business entity and not by any other subsidiary, third or related party. Your company must make sure that it keeps hold of the received product or service for one year starting from the date of the last claim disbursement.
Q13: What must I learn about PSG claims?

The applicant is allowed to receive one claim per application (if approved only), and the company needs to meet the following conditions for claim submission:

  • The claimer must purchase the requested solution as approved in PSG application; and
  • The claimer must have used the possessed solution; and
  • The claimer must have paid the amount of the solution in full; and
  • The claimer must comprehensively submit all required claim documentation

The claim documentation will then be processed for roughly 4 to 6 weeks since the time of submission; also, incomplete or suspicious documentation will lead to extended processing periods. Once the claims are approved, you can make disbursements.

Q14: How will I receive the PSG grant disbursement?

The PSG disbursement will be credited to the approved company’s bank account by the GIRO (General Interbank Recurring Order). You will have to fill in a GIRO form and verify it with your bank and submit it to the ESG before you request for a claim. If you have applied for multiple claims, one GIRO form that addresses your initial claim is sufficient to process multiple claims. You will account for resubmission of a GIRO form only if you have decided to change your company’s account details (in case you switch your official bank account to another bank or close the old account for a new one). Once your disbursement transaction is successfully executed you will be sent an email to confirm the transaction stated on BGP.

Q15: Who can I contact if I face any other issue?

In case you face an unprecedented issue while applying, requesting for claims or withdrawing your disbursement, you can follow the following support assistive protocols.

  1. In case you need to withdraw your PSG application while it is being processed, submit a request to this email address: [email protected], and you will be replied with the necessary instruction you will have to follow. Please refer to Q11 for additional information in this regard.

  2. If you have problems with your CorpPass, you can connect with the operative officers in the following time frames: Mondays to Fridays – 8:00 AM to 8:00 PM and on Saturdays – 8:00 AM to 2:00 PM. Please note that the officers will not be operating on Sundays and Public Holidays. You can contact the team on +65 6643 0577 or mail them to [email protected].

  3. To enquire on BGP issues you can contact the operating officers from 8:30 AM to 5:30 PM on Mondays to Fridays via +65 6708 7288 or by emailing them at [email protected]
The PSG financial assistive grant allows your company a headstart in initiating digital transitions with the latest technologies and equipment that you can exploit to remain impenetrable in the disruptive industrial realms. We hope that this article helped you to clarify all the doubts regarding understanding the benefits of the PSG offers and how to cleanly apply for its claims with compliance with government standards and regulations. Feel free to connect with Tigernix for more information on this regard.
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