Centre relaxes norms for IT companies to allow employees to work from home

In a bid to prevent the spread of coronavirus, the central government on Friday provided certain exemptions in the terms and conditions for Indian IT companies to facilitate them in offering work from home (WFH) option to their employees till April 30.

"In view of the concerns related to coronavirus outbreak and on the request of National Association of Software and Service Companies today, the Department of Telecommunications has provided for certain exemptions that will facilitate the Indian IT companies to offer work from home to their employees," Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad tweeted along with a picture of the order.

As per the order, the department exempted the requirement for the security deposit, agreement and prior permission for WFH.

"In the context of coronavirus disease and the request from other service providers (OSPs) and in the larger public interest, the department has decided to grant the following relaxations for a period up to April 30, 2020, in the terms and conditions for the other service providers issued in respect of work from home," the order said.

"The requirement of authorised service providers provisioned secured VPN configured using 'static IP' address by themselves for interconnection between home agent position and OSP centre with pre-defined locations," it added.

The order said that in case of violation of terms and conditions of WFH facility by any agent or employee, or by the OSP during this period, the OSP shall be subjected to a penalty up to Rs 5 lakh per WFH location which is in violation.