📄 Abstract
The Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) sector plays a significant role in India's manufacturing economy, while the auto-component industry contributes substantially to industrial production, employment, exports, and automotive supply chains. Despite this importance, delayed payments and limited access to timely working capital continue to create financial and operational challenges for MSMEs. The Trade Receivables Discounting System (TReDS), introduced by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), provides a digital mechanism for financing approved trade receivables through competitive invoice discounting and aims to improve access to timely working capital. This study examines the efficacy of the TReDS platform among auto-component MSMEs in Tamil Nadu and investigates the factors influencing its adoption and effectiveness. The study covers eight major industrial centres, namely Chennai, Coimbatore, Madurai, Tiruchirappalli, Salem, Tirunelveli, Erode, and Vellore. A quantitative, descriptive, and causal research design is adopted. Primary data are collected from 300 respondents representing auto-component MSMEs through a structured questionnaire using a five-point Likert scale. The study considers Awareness of TReDS, Perceived Usefulness, Perceived Ease of Use, Financial Accessibility, Transaction Transparency, and Institutional Support as independent variables, TReDS Platform Adoption as the mediating variable, and TReDS Platform Efficacy as the dependent variable. The Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), supported by concepts from Supply Chain Finance and Working Capital Management, provides the theoretical foundation of the study. Descriptive statistics, Cronbach's Alpha, Pearson's correlation, multiple regression, and mediation analysis are employed to examine the relationships among the study variables and to test the proposed hypotheses. The study is intended to provide empirical evidence on the role of digital receivables financing in addressing liquidity constraints and strengthening working capital management among auto-component MSMEs. It also seeks to provide strategic and policy insights for MSMEs, corporate buyers, financial institutions, government agencies, and TReDS platform operators to promote wider and more effective adoption of digital supply chain finance in Tamil Nadu.
🏷️ Keywords
📚 How to Cite:
Dr. S. Shamiul Shabariya , AN EMPIRICAL STUDY ON THE EFFICACY OF THE TReDS PLATFORM FOR TAMIL NADU'S AUTO-COMPONENT MSMEs , Volume 12 , Issue 8, August 2026, EPRA International Journal of Multidisciplinary Research (IJMR) , Pages: 9 - 19 ,