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Vendor Management Software for Indian Housing Societies

Sunday, 11 PM. The lift just stopped between Floor 7 and 8.
Whose number do you call?

EstateDeck Vendor Management runs the operational side of every vendor your society uses — verified directory, digital work orders with photo proof, AMC visit calendar, performance scorecards. With the MSME 45-day payment timer built in.

12+ vendor categories · GST + MSME verified · §65B-admissible work logs · MSMED Act §15 + IT §43B(h) aware.

See the work-order flow →
In plain English

EstateDeck Vendor Management is the operational vendor layer for Indian housing societies, RWAs, and apartment owners' associations. It holds the verified vendor directory (by category — plumber, electrician, lift agency, DG set, security agency, gardener, painter, cleaner, AC, pest control, fire safety, civil), the work-order generator with photo-proof capture, the AMC visit calendar (the scheduled service visits under an active contract — not the contract document itself), and the vendor performance scorecard. The actual AMC contract PDFs live in Document Repository; the vendor invoice ledger and TDS calculation live in Accounting; resident-raised tickets live in Helpdesk. We are the action layer — clean boundaries, no duplication.

12+
Vendor categories pre-mapped
lift, plumbing, electric, security, more
45-day
MSME payment timer
per MSMED Act §15 + IT §43B(h)
3-quote
Mandatory comparison
for jobs above threshold
§65B
Admissibility
on every photo-proof work log
A real AMC visit · 15-Mar-2026 · Tower B Lift

This is what a vendor work order looks like — start to finish.

Quarterly preventive maintenance for the Tower B lift, under contract KONE-AMC-2024-027. Here's every step from auto-scheduled visit to closed job with photo proof — and exactly which sibling module each cross-reference points to.

WO #2026-VM-00342 · KONE-AMC-2024-027 · Lift PPM Q3/4 · Tower B Closed · Photo Proof
Time Event Status / Where it lives
15-Feb · 08:00 Auto-scheduled per AMC visit cadence (quarterly) ↻ Scheduled
14-Mar · 17:00 Resident broadcast: "Tower B lift offline 15-Mar 10:00-13:00" → /communication/
15-Mar · 09:55 Vendor confirms engineer dispatch · Ravi Sharma (KONE-T2-2019-4421) ▶ En route
15-Mar · 10:38 Engineer arrived at gate · Entry photo logged by guard tablet ✓ Arrived
15-Mar · 10:45 Work started · Tower B Lift 2 motor room ▶ In progress
15-Mar · 12:08 6 photo-proof images uploaded · motor, hoistway, controller, doors, governor ✓ Documented
15-Mar · 12:12 Engineer marked all scope items complete · 1 issue flagged ✓ Job done
15-Mar · 12:12 Issue: door sensor calibration drift · Out-of-AMC repair PO #2026-VM-00343 created ↗ Spawned PO
15-Mar · 14:30 Hon. Treasurer reviewed photos · Closed visit · 4.8/5 rating ✓ Closed
15-Mar · 14:30 AMC visit billable: ₹0 (covered under contract) ✓ Nil charge
15-Mar · 14:31 Out-of-AMC repair ₹2,840 → ledger entry posted → /accounting/
15-Mar · 14:31 Next quarterly visit auto-scheduled: 15-Jun-2026 ↻ Rescheduled
15-Mar · 14:31 Contract validity check (expires 31-Mar-2026) → /document-repository/
One work order. Three sibling modules referenced. Contract PDF lives in document repository; ledger entry posts to accounting; resident broadcast went via communication. Vendor Management holds the operational record — closed, photo-documented, §65B-admissible.
What happens without a real vendor system

Four ways vendor operations go off the rails in a society.

"Who do we call?"

The lift stopped on a Sunday night. The plumber's number is in someone's phonebook. The previous Hon. Secretary's WhatsApp had the list — and that account is long gone.

The AMC that quietly lapsed

The lift AMC ended in February. Nobody noticed. Three months later a part failure costs ₹47,000 instead of the ₹0 it would have under the contract. The contract was right there in someone's Gmail.

"Did we already pay him?"

The gardener says he wasn't paid for March. The Treasurer says he was. Nobody has the invoice in hand. The bank statement shows two payments — neither marked clearly. The cycle repeats every quarter.

The MSME 45-day rule trap

Income Tax §43B(h), effective FY 2023-24, disallows your deduction on any unpaid MSME bill past 45 days. The painter is MSME-registered. He's been waiting 67 days. The Hon. Auditor will flag it at year-end.

What this module owns · what it deliberately doesn't

Vendor Management runs vendor operations.
The contract, the ledger, and the ticket live elsewhere.

EstateDeck's clean boundaries are the whole reason auditors love it. Vendor Management owns the action layer — directory, work orders, AMC visits, photo proof. Each adjacent module owns its own slice.

This module owns

  • Verified vendor directory — by category (lift, plumbing, electric, DG set, security, gardener, painter, cleaner, pest control, fire safety, AC, civil).
  • Vendor onboarding — KYC + GST verification + MSME registration check + PSARA for security agencies.
  • Work order generator — society logo + scope + MSMED §15 clause + Treasurer signature + PDF dispatch.
  • AMC visit calendar — the scheduled service visits under an active contract (quarterly, monthly, annual cadence).
  • Photo proof on completion — engineer arrival photo + before/after/component photos per scope.
  • Vendor performance scorecard — 3-axis rating (punctuality, quality, cost-vs-quote) per closed job.
  • Multi-quote comparison — 3-quote side-by-side for one-off jobs above threshold.
  • Payment-release trigger — the multi-level approval workflow that *triggers* the ledger entry in Accounting.

This module defers to

  • AMC contract PDF, legal validity, 30/7-day contract-expiry alerts — live in Property Document Repository. We link by contract reference (e.g., KONE-AMC-2024-027); the document itself is in the vault.
  • Vendor invoice ledger, TDS computation under Income Tax §194C, GST input credit posting, budget-vs-actual variance — live in EstateDeck Accounting. Our payment approval triggers the post; the canonical financial record is there.
  • Resident-raised maintenance tickets — "leak in kitchen", "lift not working", "corridor light fused" — live in Society Helpdesk. Tickets that need a vendor auto-route the assignment here.
  • Notifying residents about lift downtime, water-pump maintenance, scheduled visits — lives in Society Communication. We trigger the broadcast; communication handles DLT-registered SMS, app push, and WhatsApp delivery.

The directory: verified vendors, one tap away

Vendor directory

Verified vendor directory

12+ vendor categories pre-mapped. Filter by what's broken. Call who you trust.

  • Category-first browsing: Lift, plumbing, electric, DG set, security agency, gardener, painter, cleaner, AC, pest control, fire safety, civil.
  • GST + MSME status visible: Each vendor card shows live GSTIN verification status and Udyam (MSME) registration where applicable.
  • Last-job rating front and centre: Punctuality / quality / cost — 3-axis aggregate from past closed jobs.
  • Locality-aware suggestions: "3 verified lift agencies serve your PIN code 160071." Auto-shown when a job is created.
KONE India Elevator Pvt Ltd
Lift Maintenance Agency · Mohali zone
4.8 ★
GST StatusActive · 03AABCK6831J1Z6
MSME (Udyam)Not registered (Large Enterprise)
Active contracts2 (Lift PPM, Modernisation)
Last 12 jobs rating4.8 / 5.0 (12 jobs)
Next AMC visit15-Mar-2026 · 10:00-13:00
Onboarding

Vendor onboarding with KYC, GST, MSME

Real verification — not just a phone number in a spreadsheet.

  • GSTIN live check: We hit the GSTN portal to confirm the registration is active and matches the firm name.
  • MSME (Udyam) status: Captured at onboarding; drives the 15/45-day payment timer for that vendor.
  • PSARA for security agencies: Private Security Agencies Regulation Act 2005 license required for any security vendor.
  • Prior-society reference: Optional. Reference society contact saved alongside the vendor profile for due-diligence calls.

The work order: from need to closed job

Work order

Work order generator + dispatch

Professional PDF in 90 seconds. Sent to the vendor's email and WhatsApp.

  • Category-specific scope templates: Lift PPM gets one template, plumbing repair gets another, painting gets another.
  • Society branding: Logo, registered AOA name, statutory framework reference, Treasurer signature block.
  • MSME §15 payment clause: Embedded by default for MSME-registered vendors. No legal review needed.
  • Multi-channel dispatch: PDF goes to vendor email + WhatsApp Business. Vendor acceptance acknowledgement back into the system.
Photo proof

Photo proof on completion

Before, after, components. Geotagged, timestamped, evidence-grade.

  • Job-specific photo checklist: Lift PPM = 6 photos (motor, hoistway, controller, doors x2, governor). Plumbing = before/after.
  • Engineer arrival photo: Auto-captured by the guard tablet at the gate. No "I was here at 10:00" disputes.
  • Geotag + timestamp every photo: Tied to work order ID. Vendor can't upload yesterday's photos.
  • §65B-admissible record: Photos + timestamps qualify as electronic evidence — usable for Consumer Protection Act 2019 service-quality complaints.

The AMC visit calendar (not the contract)

AMC visits

AMC visit schedule

The visits under your active contract — not the contract document itself.

  • Visit cadence per contract: Quarterly, monthly, annual. Set once at contract reference; visits auto-schedule.
  • Auto-reschedule on closure: Visit closed → next visit auto-created at the configured cadence. No manual entry.
  • 30-day visit reminder: Visit upcoming → reminder to Hon. Treasurer + vendor email. Window-confirm two weeks prior.
  • Contract-validity check at every visit: Cross-references Document Repository to confirm contract is still in window. If contract expires before next visit, alert fires.
Scorecard

Vendor performance scorecard

Data drives the renewal call — not memory of the last bad week.

  • 3-axis rating per closed job: Punctuality, quality, cost-vs-quote. Mandatory at closure.
  • Aggregate scorecard: Average across last 12 months — visible on vendor card, in renewal-decision dashboard.
  • Caution flag below 2.5/5: Yellow flag on vendor card when rolling average drops below threshold.
  • Formal blacklist workflow: Committee resolution date, reason, future-job-block. Auditor-visible.

Payments + MSME timing

Payment trigger

Payment approval + MSME 45-day timer

Trigger the payment. Track the deadline. Don't lose your IT deduction.

  • Multi-level approval workflow: Auto-route based on amount threshold — Hon. Treasurer alone for < ₹10,000; +Hon. President above ₹50,000; +full MC above ₹2,00,000.
  • MSME payment timer per vendor: Clock starts on invoice receipt. 15-day default or 45-day max per MSMED Act §15.
  • §43B(h) deduction-risk alert: Income Tax §43B(h) disallows deductions on unpaid MSME bills past 45 days. Treasurer sees a Monday-morning at-risk list.
  • Ledger entry posts to Accounting: Click 'Approve' here — the actual ledger entry, TDS deduction under §194C, and GST input credit all post in Accounting.
Multi-quote

Multi-quote comparison for one-off jobs

Three quotes side by side. One audit trail. Zero kickback suspicion.

  • Mandatory above threshold: Society-configured — commonly ₹25,000 or ₹50,000 — gates the dispatch on having 3 quotes.
  • Side-by-side line items: Each vendor's quote PDF breakdown displayed alongside for direct line-by-line comparison.
  • Comment thread per quote: "Why is Vendor B's electrical line ₹3,200 higher?" — discussed in-thread, preserved with the audit record.
  • Auditor-visible record: Full 3-quote comparison preserved permanently — usable for Hon. Auditor review and AGM transparency.
Three vendor operations realities

The patterns that show up in every Indian society.

EstateDeck Vendor Management is in production with three distinct vendor-ops patterns. The same workflow flexes to each.

AMC-heavy society

Multi-AMC stack: lift + DG + STP + fire

4-6 active AMCs, all with quarterly or monthly visit cadences. The AMC visit calendar is the spine — Hon. Treasurer sees the next 90 days of scheduled visits at a glance. Contract-validity cross-checks fire 30 days before any renewal.

Daily-ops society

Plumbing, electric, painting on demand

Most jobs are one-off: a leak, a fused light, a peeling balcony. Helpdesk routes resident tickets to verified plumbers and electricians here. 3-quote comparison kicks in only above threshold. Photo proof keeps disputes from escalating.

Capex-mode society

Common-area renovation, major repair

Lift modernisation, parking deck repaint, club-house upgrade. Multi-quote comparison, multi-level approval up to full MC for ₹2L+ jobs. Photo proof at every milestone. The committee resolution record is preserved for AGM audit.

The Indian legal frame this is built on

MSME law, GST verification, §65B admissibility. Real anchors, not buzzwords.

MSMED Act 2006 §15

The Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Development Act 2006, Section 15, mandates that buyers pay MSME-registered suppliers within the agreed time, or within 45 days, whichever is earlier. With no written agreement, the limit is 15 days. EstateDeck verifies each vendor's MSME status at onboarding and starts the timer on every invoice received.

Income Tax Act §43B(h)

Effective FY 2023-24, Section 43B(h) of the Income Tax Act disallows deduction to a buyer on any amount payable to an MSME-registered supplier that remains unpaid past the MSMED Act §15 deadline. For a housing society, this means: pay your MSME vendors on time, or lose the tax deduction. EstateDeck's Monday-morning at-risk list is built specifically to surface this.

Income Tax §194C

Section 194C of the Income Tax Act covers TDS on payments to contractors — typically 1% for individual / HUF payees, 2% for company payees, with thresholds and exemptions. The mechanism (rate selection, TDS deposit, Form 16A issuance) lives in EstateDeck Accounting. We hold the operational record that drives the entry.

CGST Act 2017 §22-29

The Central Goods and Services Tax Act 2017 sets out vendor GST registration thresholds and verification requirements. EstateDeck performs a live GSTIN check against the GSTN portal during vendor onboarding to confirm the registration is active and matches the firm name on record.

Consumer Protection Act 2019

The Consumer Protection Act 2019 provides the legal basis for service-quality complaints against a vendor whose work is deficient. EstateDeck's photo-proof record, work-order scope document, and engineer-arrival timestamps — preserved as electronic evidence — are the foundation for any such complaint a society needs to escalate.

IT Act 2000 §65B

Section 65B of the Information Technology Act 2000 governs the admissibility of electronic records in Indian courts. Every work order, engineer arrival photo, completion photo, and vendor rating in EstateDeck Vendor Management is preserved as §65B-compliant electronic evidence — admissible in consumer court, insurance claims, or society-level dispute resolution.

From the field

Mohali, Punjab · 450 flats · 11 months in.

"I took over as Treasurer eighteen months ago and the first thing I did was ask for the vendor list. What I got was a WhatsApp screenshot. The previous Treasurer had moved to Canada. Half the numbers were wrong. The painter we used twice last year — nobody could remember his firm name. Then in March 2024 our painter raised a deduction-disallowance flag during the audit — we had paid him sixty-seven days late, he's MSME-registered, the IT §43B(h) hit was straight to our P&L. That's when I moved everyone to EstateDeck. Eleven months later: 47 verified vendors in the directory, 312 work orders dispatched with photo proof, zero §43B(h) flags this audit. The painter, by the way, now gets paid on day 14 every time."
Sardar Harvinder Singh Sandhu Hon. Treasurer · Sector 70 Residents' Association · 450 flats · 6 towers
Sector 70, Mohali-160071, Punjab · Punjab Apartment Ownership Act 1995 + Punjab Co-op Societies Act 1961
Migrated to EstateDeck Vendor Management · 11 months · 47 verified vendors · 312 photo-proof work orders · ₹0 §43B(h) disallowance
Side by side

WhatsApp list vs basic ERP vs EstateDeck Vendor Mgmt

What you actually need WhatsApp + Excel Basic ERP "vendor master" EstateDeck Vendor Mgmt
Verified GST + MSME at onboarding None Manual entry only Live GSTN check + Udyam verify
AMC visit schedule (separate from contract) Calendar reminder Often missing Auto-scheduled per cadence
Photo proof at completion Sent loose on WhatsApp Upload field, untimed Geotag + timestamp + §65B
Multi-quote comparison enforced "We got 2 quotes I think" Manual Mandatory above threshold
MSME 45-day payment timer You'd never know Not tracked Per-vendor live timer + risk list
Performance scorecard Memory + opinion Basic ratings 3-axis rolling 12-month average
Contract validity cross-check Hope someone remembers Disconnected Auto-check at every visit
Audit trail for AGM / Hon. Auditor Screenshots Limited §65B-admissible per-job log
Quick answers

Vendor management, asked and answered.

The questions every Hon. Treasurer asks before consolidating eight WhatsApp groups and an Excel sheet into a real vendor system.

What does a society vendor management system actually do?
It runs the operational layer of vendor relationships for a housing society — the verified directory of approved vendors (plumber, electrician, lift agency, DG set, security agency, gardener, painter, cleaning), the work-order generator and PDF dispatch, the AMC visit calendar (scheduled service visits under active contracts), the photo-proof capture on job completion, and the vendor performance scorecard. EstateDeck Vendor Management is the action layer — the actual contract document, vendor invoice ledger, and TDS computation live in their own dedicated modules to keep the boundaries clean and audit-ready.
How is the AMC visit calendar different from AMC contract expiry alerts?
They are two different things in two different modules. The AMC contract is a legal document — a signed PDF with a validity window (e.g., 01-Apr-2024 to 31-Mar-2026). The legal validity, the signed PDF, and the 30/7-day contract-expiry alerts live in EstateDeck Document Repository. The AMC visit calendar is the operational schedule of service visits under that active contract — for example, lift quarterly preventive maintenance due 15-Mar-2026, then 15-Jun-2026, then 15-Sep-2026. The visit calendar lives here in Vendor Management. One contract; many visits. Two modules; clean boundary.
Do you handle vendor payments and TDS deduction?
We hold the payment-approval trigger — the multi-level workflow that decides whether the Hon. Treasurer alone, or the Treasurer plus President, can release a payment of a given amount. The actual ledger entry, the TDS calculation under Income Tax Act §194C (typically 1% for individual contractors, 2% for company vendors), and the GST input-credit posting happen in EstateDeck Accounting. When you click 'Approve Payment' here, the accounting entry posts there automatically — but the canonical financial record is one source of truth in Accounting, not duplicated here.
What is the MSME 45-day rule and how does this system handle it?
Section 15 of the MSMED Act 2006 mandates that buyers pay MSME-registered suppliers within the agreed time, or within 45 days, whichever is earlier — with no agreement, 15 days. Income Tax Act §43B(h), effective FY 2023-24, additionally disallows a buyer's deduction on any unpaid MSME bill past 45 days. EstateDeck verifies each vendor's MSME registration during onboarding, displays it on the vendor card, and starts a payment timer on every MSME-vendor invoice received. The Hon. Treasurer sees an MSME-payment-due-today list every Monday morning — paying late costs the society its tax deduction.
Can residents raise their own maintenance tickets directly to vendors?
Residents raise tickets through EstateDeck Helpdesk — "leak in kitchen sink", "lift not working on Tower B", "corridor light fused". Helpdesk holds the resident-side ticket workflow with SLA timers and resident sign-off. When a ticket needs a vendor, Helpdesk auto-routes the assignment to the right vendor here, in Vendor Management — at which point we take over with the work order, dispatch, photo proof, and payment release. Two modules; one continuous workflow.
How do you verify a vendor before adding them to the directory?
Vendor onboarding captures four things — basic KYC (firm name, proprietor PAN, address), GST registration verification (we hit the GSTN portal to confirm GSTIN is live), MSME registration status (Udyam Registration Number where available), and prior-society reference where supplied. PSARA license is captured for security agencies. ISO 9001 / 14001 captured where the vendor provides it. Verification status appears on the vendor card so the Hon. Treasurer knows at a glance whether the directory entry is fully verified, partially verified, or pending.
Can we compare quotes from multiple vendors before approving a job?
Yes. For any one-off job above the configured threshold (commonly ₹25,000 or ₹50,000 per society bye-laws), EstateDeck requires 3 quotes before the work order can dispatch. You can solicit quotes from any verified vendor in your directory; they upload their quote PDF and breakup line items. The committee sees all three side-by-side with category-relative rate benchmarks, comment threads for discussion, and one-click approval. The full quote-comparison record is preserved for committee audit and Hon. Auditor review.
How does photo proof work for completed jobs?
Every work order specifies photo-proof requirements based on the job type — for lift AMC, photos of the motor room, hoistway, controller, doors, governor (typically 5-6 photos); for plumbing, before/after of the repair area; for civil work, all four sides plus a wide-angle shot. The vendor's engineer uploads photos from the EstateDeck vendor app (or the assigned guard tablet for vendors without app access). Each photo is timestamped, geotagged, and tied to the work-order ID. The Hon. Treasurer reviews photos before closing the job and releasing payment. Photos qualify as IT Act 2000 §65B electronic evidence — admissible in service-quality disputes under Consumer Protection Act 2019.
Can underperforming vendors be flagged so we don't hire them again?
Yes. Every closed job gets a 3-axis vendor rating — punctuality, quality, cost-vs-quote — entered by the approver. Ratings roll up into a per-vendor scorecard visible on the directory. Below a configurable threshold (commonly 2.5 / 5 averaged over 6 jobs), the vendor card shows a yellow caution flag. The committee can formally blacklist a vendor with a documented reason; blacklisted vendors stop appearing in job-routing suggestions and cannot be assigned new work orders. The blacklist reason and the closing committee resolution date are preserved permanently.
Where are the AMC contract PDFs themselves stored?
In EstateDeck Document Repository, in the Vendor & Maintenance folder, version-controlled with role-based access. The Vendor Management record links to those PDFs by contract reference (e.g., KONE-AMC-2024-027) — so when you open a vendor's profile here, the active contract is one click away — but the file itself is in the document vault. The 30-day and 7-day legal-validity expiry alerts on the contract document also live there. This separation is deliberate: Vendor Management is the operational schedule; Document Repository is the legal record.

Retire the WhatsApp screenshot vendor list.
Run vendor operations like the AGM expects.

We'll walk you through the vendor directory, the work-order generator, the AMC visit calendar, and the MSME-payment timer — in a 20-minute demo built for your society's vendor stack.

Book the Vendor Demo →