Govt eases guidelines for ITES sector, new norms to facilitate 'Work From Home'
New Delhi: The government on Thursday announced simplified guidelines for Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) and IT Enabled Services (ITES) players to reduce the compliance burden for the industry and facilitate 'Work from Home' and 'Work from Anywhere'.
The new rules for 'Other Service Providers' (OSPs) would create a friendly-regime for 'Work from Home' and 'Work from Anywhere' while removing several reporting and other obligations for such companies.
OSPs are entities providing applications services, IT enabled services or any kind of outsourcing services using telecom resources. The term refers to BPOs, KPOs (Knowledge Process Outsourcing), ITES, call centres, amongst others.
The new rules are aimed at providing a strong impetus to the industry and positioning India as one of the most competitive IT jurisdictions in the world, an official release said.
The new regulations would boost flexibility for these companies to adopt 'Work from Home' and 'Work from Anywhere' policies, a development especially relevant at a time when COVID-19 has forced IT/BPO firms to enable employees to work from home.
The new rules also do away with registration requirement for OSPs, while the BPO industry engaged in data related work has been taken out of the ambit of the said 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!,"
Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted.
An official release said that under the revamped guidelines, the requirements such as deposit of bank guarantees, requirement for static IPs, frequent reporting obligations, publication of network diagram, and penal provisions have also been removed.
"Similarly, several other requirements, which prevented companies from adopting 'Work from Home' and 'Work from Anywhere' policies have also been removed," the release said.
