permanent basis industry stpi wfh nasscom companies

IT cos approach govt to allow certain WFH relaxations to continue on permanentbasisThe IT industry body, in its letter to STPI, said allowing these relaxationson a permanent basis will help “companies plan their operations from a long-term perspective and undertake flexi policies to provide WFH to theiremployees based on their requirements”.New Delhi: IT companies have approached the information technology ministry toallow certain relaxations on work from home (WFH) to continue on a permanentbasis, as the industry moves towards a blended working model in the post-COVID-19 era.Nasscom has written to an inter-ministerial committee under the IT ministrythat is looking into the matter, Software Technology Parks of India (STPI) andsome states on this, Nasscom Senior Vice-President and Chief Strategy OfficerSangeeta Gupta told PTI.The IT industry body, in its letter to STPI, said allowing these relaxationson a permanent basis will help “companies plan their operations from a long-term perspective and undertake flexi policies to provide WFH to theiremployees based on their requirements”.“While the current permissions have served the need well in the temporarycontext, the industry is now looking at enabling WFH on a permanent basis forcertain percentage of employees especially in the post COVID-19 era.Therefore, it is needed that the current regulation should be amended tosupport such working models,” Nasscom said in its letter dated June 26.When contacted, STPI Director General Omkar Rai told PTI, “We are consideringrepresentation made by the industry and we will soon issue a clarification. Wewill make sure that the IT industry continues to work from wherever they wishwithout affecting any of their operations.” STPI is an autonomous society setup by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology in 1991, with theobjective of encouraging, promoting and boosting the software exports fromIndia. As many as 4,300 units operate under STPI, most of them involved insoftware exports.STPI had issued a notification on March 11 enabling work-from-home provisionsfor STP-registered units.Nasscom, in its letter, noted that about 90 per cent of the workforce employedin the IT-BPM sector is working from home.Given the available technologies and an impetus from the COVID-19 pandemic,IT-ITeS companies are now looking at a blended working model with both workfrom office and work from home as a permanent feature, it said.Nasscom has also suggested allowing units to take-out duty-free assets onpermanent basis for the purpose of WFH subject to conditions.“As per provision…STPI units can take out laptops, computers and projectionssystems outside of STPI units for the purpose of use of authorised employees.However, such permissions are given for temporary period,” it said.The association noted that as companies look to adopt WFH on a long-termbasis, the flexibility of taking out IT assets out of STPI on a temporarybasis should be extended for such withdrawal on a permanent basis.Such enablement will provide operational certainty and ease compliance, itadded. Nasscom has also urged STPI to allow reduction in operational area on accountof permanent WFH, “subject to meeting export obligation”.This will enable companies to effectively manage their resources and plantheir operations more efficiently, Nasscom said.It has further suggested that alternatively, a minimum operational area may beprescribed that should be mandatory for valid operations.The industry body has also sought removal of the requirement of e-way bill formovement of duty-free assets between STPI units and employees’ home.It explained that the current requirement for each movement of goods adds tothe administrative and compliance burden for companies.Further, any errors in delivery challan details, such as value and HSN code,can lead to penalty for the companies, it said seeking allowing of movement ofduty-free assets on a self-declaration basis without the requirement ofgeneration of e-way bills.* * *Now you can get handpicked stories from Telangana Today on Telegram everyday.Click the link to subscribe.Click to follow Telangana Today Facebook page and Twitter .