Major impetus to IT sector: Centre eases 'work from anywhere' rules

The changes were made by the department of telecom after the persuasion by  IT and tech companies over the last three months demanding permanent relaxation on working location after work from home was adopted by the companies as they face the challenge to keep business as usual during the corona lockdown period.

"In a major reform initiative, the department of telecom has liberalised the regime for other service provider (OSPs). This will encourage the Work-from-Home or Work-from-Anywhere trend in India and provide a great relief to the IT/ITeS/ BPO industry," the ministry said in a statement which also earned an applause from Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

"Committed to furthering ‘Ease of Doing Business’ and making India a tech hub! GoI has significantly simplified Other Service Provider (OSP) guidelines of the Telecom Department. Compliance burdens of BPO industry will be greatly reduced due to this. http://nm-4.com/GwEUha," the Prime Minister tweeted.

"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!" he further tweeted.

The OSPs are other service providers providing applications services, IT-enabled services or any kind of outsourcing services using telecom resources. The term refers to BPOs, IT-ES, KPOs (Knowledge Process Outsourcing), call centres, amongst others.

The new framework will provide a strong impetus to India’s industry and will make India one of the most competitive IT jurisdictions in the world, an official release said.

The new regulations would enhance flexibility for the IT sector to adopt "work from anywhere" and "work from home" policies, a trend which emerged during lockdown to enable IT/BPO firm employees to work from home.

The new rules also do away the registration requirement for OSPs and the BPO industry engaged in data related work have been taken out of the ambit of OSP regulations.

An official release stated that the new guidelines have removed the requirements such as deposit of bank guarantees, requirement for static IPs, frequent reporting of obligations, publication of network diagram, and penal provisions.

"Similarly, several other requirements, which prevented companies from adopting work from home" and "work from anywhere" policies have also been removed," the release said, adding that additional dispensations to enhance flexibility for the industry have been allowed.

"With an aim to qualitatively improve the Ease of Doing Business of the IT industry, particularly Business Process Outsourcing and IT-Enabled Services, the government has drastically simplified the Other Service Provider guidelines of the Department of Telecom. The new guidelines tremendously reduce the compliance burden of the BPO industry," the release added.

It further said that the new guidelines are aimed at removing unnecessary bureaucratic restrictions to allow the industry to focus on innovative new products and solutions.

"With this reform, the Government of India sends out a strong signal of its support to the IT industry with a view to encouraging increased investment in the sector.

"The reform will certainly unleash the potential of our talented youth by making India a preferred destination for the Information and Knowledge Outsourcing Industry and would further the vision of 'AtmaNirbhar Bharat'," the release added.

Communications and IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad tweeted, "Today @narendramodi Govt has taken a major reform initiative to liberalize the regulatory regime for "Other Service Provider". This will boost the IT/ ITeS/ BPO industry and create a friendly regime for Work from Home in India."