The relaxation was provided by the telecommunications department following demands from technology and IT companies seeking permanent relaxation in the workplace after initially starting the trend during the crown lock period.
“In a major reform initiative, the telecom department has liberalized the regime for other service providers (OSP). This will further the trend of work from home or work from anywhere in India and will provide great relief to IT / ITeS / BPO, “the ministry said in a statement that was also praised by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
“Committed to promoting ‘Ease of doing business’ and making India a technology hub! The government has significantly simplified the OSP guidelines of the telecom department. Due to this, the compliance burdens of the BPO industry will be reduced to a large extent, “Modi said in a tweet, adding that the move will be beneficial to the information technology industry.
“India’s IT industry is our pride. The prowess of this industry is recognized globally. We are committed to doing everything possible to ensure an environment conducive to growth and innovation in India. Today’s decisions will especially encourage young talents in the sector! ”
Under the OSP guidelines of the DoT, the registration requirement for OSPs has been removed entirely and the BPO industry involved in data-related work has been removed from the scope of OSP regulations. In addition, requirements such as the deposit of bank guarantees, for static IPs, frequent reporting obligations, publication of network diagram, criminal provisions, etc. have also been eliminated. Similarly, several other requirements have also been removed, preventing companies from adopting the ‘Work from home’ and ‘Work from anywhere’ policies, said Telecom and IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad.
The move was well received by the IT industry. “This is truly progressive long-term thinking from the government that will make our technology industry much more competitive. Working from anywhere has become the new reality and thank you for seeing this,” said Rishad Premji, President of Wipro.
Karthikeyan Natarajan, President and COO of Cyient, said the liberalized guidelines will help companies better plan their workforce and customer delivery schedules, as well as allow them to create jobs in Tier 2 and 3 cities. ” This measure is essential given that the pandemic could be a reality for the next two years, “said Natarajan.
IT industry body Nasscom called it a “landmark decision” and said the new guidelines “will greatly reduce the burden of compliance” for the BPM (business process management) industry. “Access to remote work will give our industry an epic boost and significantly expand access to talent, increase job creation, catapult Indian IT and BPM to the next level of growth and innovation, thus making India a hub. global technology “.
After the crown lockdown, IT and BPO companies had shifted a large part of their work home, and those still largely carrying on this include Tech Mahindra, TCS, and Wipro.
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