The central government announced guidelines for Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) and IT Enabled Services (ITES) players to reduce the burden for employees from the industry and facilitate ‘Work from Home’ as well as ‘Work from Anywhere’.
With the new rules provided for ‘Other Service Providers’ (OSPs), it would result in creating a friendly setting for ‘Work from Home’ and ‘Work from Anywhere’. After removing several reporting and other obligations for such companies, there will be enough ease provided for a flexible work setting.
OSPs are entities providing applications services, IT-enabled services or any kind of outsourcing services by using telecom resources. The term also refers to BPOs, KPOs (Knowledge Process Outsourcing), ITES or call centres.
An official release said that the new rules have come with the only objective of envisioning India amid the most competitive IT sectors across the world.
The pandemic has forced IT/BPO sectors to enable employees to work from home. With the new regulations, it will boost flexibility for these companies and help employees to adapt to the new normal. The new rules provide relaxation even with registration requirement for OSPs. The BPO industry which is engaged in data-related work has been taken out of the ambit of the new regulations.
India’s IT sector is our pride. The prowess of this sector is recognised globally. We are committed to doing everything possible to ensure a conducive environment for growth and innovation in India. Today’s decisions will especially encourage young talent in the sector!
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) November 5, 2020
The Prime Minister confirmed the same on Twitter while adding his remarks on the IT sector.
Apart from this, various other guidelines such as deposit of bank guarantees, the requirement for static IPs, frequent reporting obligations, publication of network diagram, and penal provisions have been removed.
The main aim behind this is to qualitatively improve the Ease of Doing Business of the IT industry particularly BPO’s and IT Enabled Services. With the drastically simplified regulations for the Other Service Provider, the burden of the BPO industry would be reduced.
‘With the relaxations in WFH regulations, companies will be able to tap into talent from small towns and remote parts of the country,’ reported LiveMint.
It will also allow the industry to focus on innovative new products and solutions. With this new reform, the Government of India has sent out a strong signal of its support to the IT industry and it envisions encouraging increased investment in the sector.
Nasscom has also termed the move as a bold reform for ITES/BPO players. WNS Group CEO Keshav Murugesh tweeted that this ‘brilliant step’ will catapult Indian IT and BPM to the next level of growth, global impact, job creation and development of small towns and cities in tier III and IV locations.
Also Read: Centre To Set Up Driver Training Centres In Tribal Areas, 115 Poorest Districts
