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| Policy Submissions/Representations to the Government |
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DoT: Work from Home conditions extended till 31st December |
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Based on NASSCOM’s recommendations, the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) vide notification (No. 18-/5 2015-CS-1 pt) dated 21.07.2020, further extended the Work from Home (WFH) conditions for Other Service Providers (OSPs) till December end. We continue to engage with DoT to ensure favorable regulatory framework for the industry to undertake work from home based on their requirements (read more). |
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DGCA: NASSCOM submits feedback on Draft Unmanned Aircraft System Rules, 2020 |
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The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) released the draft Unmanned Aircraft System Rules, 2020 (UAS Rules), on 2 June 2020.The UAS Rules allow unmanned aircraft to operate, which will be a significant change from the existing Requirements for Operation of Civil RPAS (initially contemplated in the draft Drone Policy 2.0). However, other recommendations of the draft Drone Policy 2.0, such as beyond visual line of sight operations and carriage of a payload are not envisaged in the UAS Rules. NASSCOM submitted its feedback on this to the DGCA based on industry consultation. For more information, contact komal@nasscom.in (read more). |
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Representation to Haryana Government on labour related challenges |
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On 17 July, NASSCOM made a representation to Haryana Labour department citing industry concerns relating to delay in getting approvals for engaging women in night shifts as well as CLRA applications. In our representation, we suggested Government to ease the burden on the industry by processing CLRA applications without further delays. We further recommended that process of taking annual permissions for engaging women in night shift should be made simpler and replaced with one-time approval process, subject to periodic checks / inspections by labour authorities (read more). |
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GST: Submission on taxability of import of Free of Cost (FOC) software from Related parties |
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Recently, a number of enquiries have been initiated by GST authorities on companies seeking details of cross-border Free of Cost (FOC) supply of software between related parties. This has caused quite a stir in the industry given that these enquiries have been initiated during the COVID-19 lockdown where IT/ ITeS companies have been working remotely and already dealing with several other business challenges. In this regard, NASSCOM made a submission to GST Policy Wing on July 6, 2020 highlighting that Indian companies access the software only for provision of service under the contract with the affiliate and not for any “commercial exploitation” with third party customers. Further, the agreements entered into between the parties clearly specify that the Indian affiliate would need to provide services using the software/ tools that would be given by the overseas affiliate. We have requested for an issuance of a clarification that access/ use provided to software by overseas affiliate to Indian Companies to facilitate provision of service does not get covered under Entry 4 of Schedule I of CGST Act, as it fails to satisfy the conditions for qualifying as a “supply” (read more). |
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Ministry of Finance: Industry requirements under Income Tax Act to enable Work from Home on long-term basis |
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On 6 July 2020, NASSCOM made a representation to Ministry of Finance (MoF), highlighting industry requirements to enable WFH on a long-term basis as IT/ITeS companies are looking at a blended working model with both work-from-office and WFH as a permanent feature. There is uncertainty and requirement for enabling provisions in the context of WFH. We requested MoF to clarify some of the provisions relating to the Income Tax Act and requested for provision of tax-deductible WFH allowance to cover expenditure incurred by employees on purchase of necessary infrastructure/ accessories. (read more). |
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GST: Submission on denial of GST refunds on account of treatment of overseas group entity as ‘establishment of distinct person’ |
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One of the conditions to qualify as export under GST law is that the supplier and recipient are not merely establishments of a distinct person. Further Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) clarified that where service provider and service recipient are separate legal entities incorporated under the laws of respective countries, they would not be construed as mere establishments of a distinct person. However, based on feedback from industry, it was highlighted that jurisdictional State GST officers are rejecting refund claims of exporters treating them as ‘establishments of the same entity’. In this regard, NASSCOM made a representation to GST Policy Wing on July 20, 2020 requesting them to issue Instructions to field officer directing that in case of provision of services by a service provider in India to a service recipient outside India where both the parties are separate legal entities, such service provider and service recipient will not be treated as ‘establishments of distinct persons’(read more). |
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GST: Submission on admissibility of scanned copies of tax invoices to claim of Input Tax Credit (ITC) |
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Under GST, a tax invoice is an important document and a registered person cannot avail Input Tax Credit (ITC) unless he is in possession of a tax invoice. However, due to lockdown, business activities have been disrupted all over the country and companies have been processing supplier invoices which are generally made available in scanned form. Even when businesses will resume normal functioning, it would be a humongous task amidst efforts in obtaining hard copies of vendors invoices and placing them on records. In this regard, NASSCOM made a representation to GST Policy Wing on July 30, 2020 requesting them to waive off the requirement of obtaining physical copies of vendor invoices specifically for period beginning from March 2020 until March 2021. Further, Rule 46 of CGST Rules should be amended to allow affixing of digital signature on invoices on an optional basis for period from March 2020 to March 2021 (read more). |
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Industry representation against law mandating reservation in the private sector in Haryana |
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As per some recent media reports (available here), the Haryana Government is contemplating introducing a law mandating 75% job reservation for people domiciled in Haryana where the gross salary of the jobs is upto 50,000 INR per month. Given its wider impact on the industry, NASSCOM in association with CII made a joint submission to the Haryana Government on 17 July, highlighting the industry concerns against such a proposal. In addition, NASSCOM also sought interventions from the Central Government on this matter, stating such law would weaken the Industry’s productivity and the advantage of “one nation, one talent pool”. We are following up on this matter and shall keep the members updated on further developments. |
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NASSCOM participated in the second meeting of Consultation Committee of GSTN |
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NASSCOM is part of Consultation Committee of GSTN constituted to enable simplification of forms and business processes associated with GST and improvement in the IT System. The second meeting of the committee was organised on 14 July 2020 to seek feedback/suggestions related to GST Portal and E-way bill Portal. The meeting was chaired by Mr. Prakash Kumar, CEO-GSTN and was attended by Mr. Yogendra Garg (Principal Commissioner – GST Policy Wing), Mr. Ritvik Pandey ( JS- Revenue), Mr. Manish Sinha (EVP, Services at GSTN and various industry organisations, including NASSCOM. The suggestions made by NASSCOM will be taken into consideration by GSTN and will be implemented in due course of time (read more). |
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Interactive Session with Committee on Non-Personal Data Governance |
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On July 16, 2020, NASSCOM and DSCI organized an interactive session with the Committee on Non-Personal Data Governance, with the aim of initiating the industry conversation on issues surrounding non-personal data sharing, regulation and governance. Mr. Gopalakrishnan, the Chairperson of the NPD Committee, initiated the conversation with a presentation on the key concepts and recommendations in the Draft Report, before opening the floor for a Q&A session with the industry. The work of the NPD Committee was welcomed and well-appreciated, particularly regarding its emphasis on prevention of harmful processing of NPD, while working to enable wider and open access to NPD. At the same time, feedback received in the course of the interactive session, highlighted concerns of the industry over operationalising some of the recommendations of the NPD Committee (read more). |
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Government – Industry interaction on completion of three years of GST organised by NASSCOM |
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On July 23, 2020, NASSCOM, in association with Deloitte India as knowledge partners, organised an interactive live Government – Industry interaction on completion of three years of GST with:
- D. P. Nagendra Kumar, Principal Chief Commissioner of Central Tax, Bangalore;
- Yogendra Garg, Principal Commissioner, GST Policy Wing; and
- Amitesh Bharat Singh, Additional Director General (Commissioner)
The session moderated by Ashish Aggarwal, Head – Public Policy, NASSCOM and Mahesh Jaising, Partner & National Indirect Tax Leader, Deloitte India, witnessed participation from around 100 participants. During the webinar, we highlighted some of the key issues faced by IT/ITeS sector to get feedback from the government officials. We will be further engaging with the GST Policy Wing on open issues with detailed suggestions and representations (read more).
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NASSCOM to submit feedback on Draft Report on Non-Personal Data Governance |
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NASSCOM is conducting an industry consultation on the draft Recommendations of the Committee on Non-Personal Data Governance chaired by Shri. Kris Gopalakrishnan. We request you to kindly provide us your inputs in response to the consultation questionnaire available on the NASSCOM Community Page. Kindly share your inputs with indrajeet@nasscom.in before 3 August. Please note that formal comments before the Committee on Non-Personal Data Governance may be submitted directly on the MyGov portal before 13 August 2020. (read more) . |
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NASSCOM to submit feedback on Review of Customs Duty Exemption Notifications/Laws & Procedures |
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During the Budget speech, the Hon’ble Finance Minister had announced to undertake a review of existing Customs laws and procedures to for aligning them with the needs of changing times and to identify those notifications, which may have outlived their utility or have become outdated. In this context, MyGov has invited suggestions for undertaking review of existing Customs exemption notifications. The last date of providing inputs to the government is August 21, 2020. In this regard, we request you to kindly provide inputs to tejasvi@nasscom.in before August 10, 2020 (read more) |
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NASSCOM to submit feedback on Draft Working Document on Artificial Intelligence |
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Niti Aayog has released a draft working document: Towards Responsible #AIforAll. According to Niti Aayog, the draft document was prepared for an expert consultation held on 21 July 2020 and the document is solely for the purpose of discussion with stakeholders on this issue. The last date to submit feedback/comments is 28 August. NASSCOM will also be submitting its feedback to Niti Aayog based on member consultation. In case, you have any comments on this, please send it to komal@nasscom.in and Jayakumar@nasscom.in before 21 August, to enable us make a timely submission to Niti Aayog. |
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NASSCOM to submit feedback on Draft Code on Wages (Central) Rules, 2020 |
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The Ministry of Labour and Employment has recently published the draft Code on Wages (Central) Rules 2020, seeking inputs from the stakeholders. The Rules prescribes for the process and fixation of calculating the Minimum Rate of Wages, process of making payment, process of constituting the Central Advisory Board for the purpose of fixing Floor Wage, procedure of deduction of wage and recovery etc. A detailed analysis of the Rules in available here. Kindly email your inputs to deepak@nasscom.in and jayakumar@nasscom.in latest by August 5, 2020. |
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NASSCOM Discussion Paper: Amendments to the Information Technology Act, 2000 |
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In light of MeitY’s ongoing review of the IT Act to address the regulatory challenges posed by emerging technologies, NASSCOM will be releasing a discussion paper on amendments to the Information Technology Act, 2000 (IT Act). For more information, contact komal@nasscom.in. |
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Department of Consumer Affairs publishes Consumer Protection (E-commerce) Rules, 2020 |
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The Department of Consumer Affairs (‘DoCA’) released the Consumer Protection (E-commerce) Rules, 2020 (‘E-commerce Rules’) on 17 July, which affix liability on e-commerce entities and sellers with respect to consumer protection issues. The E-commerce Rules reflect substantially all the recommendations made by NASSCOM to DoCA on the draft Consumer Protection (E-commerce) Rules in December 2019 except the definition of e-commerce entity (read more). |
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STPI clarifies to NASSCOM that there are no restrictions on work from home (WFH) |
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Last month, NASSCOM made a detailed representation (see here) to STPI authorities, highlighting industry requirements related to enabling work from home on a permanent basis. Pursuant to our submission, STPI has shared its response with NASSCOM clarifying that there are no restrictions on work from home (WFH) on a long-term basis (read more). |
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GST: CBIC notifies revised e-invoice schema and applicability of e-invoicing |
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Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC), vide issue of Notifications has notified the updated version of e-invoice schema/format (Version 1.1) and has increased the turnover limit for mandatory implementation of e-invoicing from INR 100 crore to INR 500 crore. However, the date for implementation of e-invoicing continues to be October 1, 2020. Further, exemption from issuance of e-invoice has also been extended to Special Economic Zone Units (read more). |
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EODB: Telangana Government issues order to simplify inspections under various labour laws |
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In a bid to improve ease of doing business (EODB)in the state, the Telangana Government published a comprehensive order related Computerized Risk Assessment based labour inspections process under various laws. As per the Order dated July 14, 2020, the Government has categorized various establishments into following three categories based on the number of employees and have defined the frequency of inspection that will be carried out by the department. Further, the order mentions that there will be single joint inspection, without any duplication, under such labour laws. (read more). |
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