Covid-19 impact: Govt extends WFH norms for IT, ITeS firms till year end

The Department of Telecom  (DoT) has extended the relaxations in the norms for other service providers (OSPs) to facilitate 'work from home' amid Covid-19 pandemic till the end of December. 

The decision will help ensure business continuity and employee safety, industry executives said. Nasscom President Debjani Ghosh said the move "will ensure business continuity and employee safety" and "increase talent pool to tier 2 and 3 cities". 

In March, the DoT had announced relaxation of norms for OSPs till April 30, which was later extended to July 31. 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, firms were not allowed to connect office Virtual Private Network to home infrastructure. Over 90 per cent of the workforce of Indian IT firms continue to work from home. 

N V Tyagarajan, chief executive of Genpact, said this move will "solidify" client relationships globally, ensure business continuity and employee safety.

Wipro Chairman Rishad Premji said in a tweet: "This has helped tremendously in further elevating our standing and responsiveness globally." 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.