The government on Thursday announced simplification of guidelines for companies providing business process outsourcing (BPO) and IT-based services (ITES). This will reduce the compliance burden of the industry and will help in 'Work from home' and 'Work from anywhere'.
The new rules will create a favorable environment for 'service from home' and 'work from anywhere' for other service providers. Periodic reporting and other commitments for such companies have been eliminated.
The move is significant from the point of view that the industry is seeking relief in the 'work from home' case and wants to continue it on a permanent basis.
OSPs are companies that use telecommunications resources to provide application services, IT-related services, or outsourcing services of some sort. In this way companies are called BPO, Knowledge Process Outsourcing (KPO), ITES and Call Center.
According to the detailed guidelines issued by the Department of Telecommunications, this will give a boost to the concept of 'work from home'. 'Work from home' is being expanded to make 'Work from Anywhere' available.
It states that the status of Extended Agent / Remote Agent (Work from Home / Anywhere) has been approved with certain conditions. It states that the agent at home will be considered as the 'remote agent' of the OSP center and will allow internet connection. The remote agent will be allowed to work from any location in the country.
An official statement said the new rules are intended to encourage industry and present India as the most competitive IT space. The new regulations will help companies adopt policies related to 'work from home' and 'work from anywhere'. This step has been taken at a time when IT / BPO companies are taking their employees from home due to the Kovid-19 epidemic.
The need for registration for OSPs has been eliminated under the new rules. At the same time, the BPO industry associated with data related work has been excluded from the scope of these regulations.