The National Association of Software and Services Companies (Nasscom) has sought that the other service providers or OSPs under the Department of Telecom be abolished. Under this, certain kinds of work, such as voice calls are not allowed to be shifted to the homes of employees. With remote working already becoming the new normal, if OSPs are done away with altogether, employees will be able to work from home in the future.
The Industry has received an extension in the relaxation of OSP norms until July 31. However, NASSCOM is demanding that these norms be abolished altogether. The information technology (IT) industry body has been requesting the Government to make changes in the labour laws too. This becomes a challenge because these laws fall under the jurisdiction of different states. The regulations differ from one state to another. And the primary assumption in labour laws is that the employees are physically present at a workplace, which is located in that particular state.
Sixteen of the 18 states with professional tax requirements, allow taxes to be filed electronically. However, in two states, that is, Gujarat and Tamil Nadu the manual process is followed. Here, companies have to rely on consultants to manually file taxes for their employees working in different districts. There are similar challenges when it comes to minimum wages and Labour Welfare Fund too.
