New Delhi:
The government has extended the relaxed connectivity norms for 'work from home', applicable on IT and BPO companies, till July 31, amid the coronavirus pandemic.
The deadline for the easier norms was to end on April 30.
Industry body Nasscom said the decision to extend the timelines on relaxed norms for other service providers (OSPs) to facilitate 'work from home' will help IT and BPO firms plan their strategy of bringing back workforce to offices, in a gradual and phased manner.
Earlier on Tuesday, IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad told reporters, "I have relaxed norms for working from home…it was to end on April 30, I have extended it to July 31".
In March, the DoT relaxed certain norms for OSPs till April 30 to facilitate work from home (WFH) amid the coronavirus pandemic.
This included exemptions in requirement of security deposit and agreement for WFH facility for OSPs (primarily IT and IT-enabled services companies). Earlier, companies were not allowed to connect office Virtual Private Network to home infrastructure, a rule that was subsequently relaxed in view of the coronavirus pandemic.
"Given that work-from-home is going to be a new normal for sometime, the decision to extend timelines is a welcome move. It will help companies plan their return-to-office strategy in a phased manner. Now that the deadline is being extended to July, companies too can plan their workforce returning to office, in the same way," Nasscom Senior Vice-President and Chief Strategy Officer Sangeeta Gupta told PTI.
Currently, over 90 per cent of IT workforce is working from home and only those performing critical functions are going to offices.
Meanwhile, during his interaction with states to discuss COVID-19 challenges, tech innovations and roadmap for the IT and electronics sector, Prasad also urged states' IT ministers to move swiftly and promote electronics manufacturing through pro-investment initiatives, to tap a "great opportunity" that now beckons India, in view of changing business dynamics due to COVID-19.
The minister also directed that data from Aarogya Setu app should be made available online to the states right up-to district officials, in line with suggestions made by states. Prasad said states have been highly-appreciative of Aarogya Setu app, and that a similar solution for feature phones is in the works, and will be launched shortly.
The meeting was attended by chief ministers of Haryana and Sikkim, deputy chief ministers of Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Karnataka, who are also in charge of the IT department in their respective states, an official release said.