The government's decision to extend relaxation in connectivity norms for work from home (WFH) for IT and BPO companies till December 31 will help ensure business continuity and employee safety, industry executives said.
The move will also help the industry increase its talent pool to tier II and III cities, they said.
The Department of Telecom (DoT) had on Tuesday extended the relaxations in the norms for other service providers (OSPs) to facilitate 'work from home' amid COVID-19 pandemic. In March, the department had announced relaxation of norms for OSPs till April 30, which was later extended to July 31.
This has now been extended till December 31.Nasscom President Debjani Ghosh tweeted that the decision "will ensure business continuity and employee safety" and also "increase our talent pool to tier 2 and 3 cities".
The relaxations announced in March included exemptions in requirement of security deposit and agreement for WFH facility for OSPs (primarily IT and IT-enabled services companies). Earlier, companies were not allowed to connect office Virtual Private Network to home infrastructure, a rule that was subsequently relaxed in view of coronavirus pandemic.
Currently, over 90% of the workforce of Indian IT companies continue to work from home. Companies are gradually bringing employees back to work premises while practising social distancing norms and undertaking safety measures.
NV Tyagarajan, Chief Executive Officer of Genpact, tweeted that this move will "solidify" client relationships globally, ensure business continuity and employee safety.
"Thank you to the government for their tremendous support on the new ways of working from day 1. This has helped tremendously in further elevating our standing and responsiveness globally," Wipro Chairman Rishad Premji said.
WNS Group CEO Keshav R Murugesh and RPG Group Chairman Harsh Goenka also lauded the government's efforts saying steps like these have helped position Indian IT as a world leader.
