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| In Focus |
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COVID-19: GOVERNMENT ADVISORIES AND OTHER ESSENTIAL INFORMATION |
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All information relating to NASSCOM’s engagement with the Government are available on the NASSCOM Community Page under ‘Policy Advocacy.’ Latest advisories from the Central Government and State Governments including information on availing State passes for movement of goods are available on NASSCOM’s Covid19 Advisories Dashboard |
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Work from Home: Flexibility to use dynamic IPs in VPNs accepted by DOT, other relaxations extended |
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Department of Telecommunications (DoT), vide notification (No.18.5/2015-CS-I) dated April 15, 2020, has further relaxed terms and conditions related to work from home. DoT has now made it flexible for Other Service Providers (OSPs) to use static IP or dynamic IP pool for the purpose of interconnection between home agent position and OSP center with pre-defined locations. Pursuant to March 13, 2020 notification, several OSPs had shared their concerns with NASSCOM in meeting the static IP requirement. The revised changes are in line with our recommendations and are now valid up to 31.07.2020 (read more). NASSCOM continues to engage with DoT for long term easing of work from home restrictions. Read our submission in response to TRAI’s consultation paper where we made a case for abolishing OSP terms and conditions. |
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Work from Home: Advocacy with DoT to enhance telecom network capacity |
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India is ranked very low (at 126 in the world) on fixed-broadband subscriptions per individual and less than one-fourth of the telecom towers are fibre connected. Therefore, employees are primarily dependent on mobile cellular subscription to connect to internet. A representation was submitted on April 2, 2020 to DoT detailing series of measure to enhance wireless and broadband connectivity in the country. These include making available additional high capacity backhaul to meet high traffic demands, introducing fast track process for importing necessary hardware needed to increase network capacity etc. |
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E-Commerce: Advocacy to expand list of essential items |
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A graded exit strategy from lockdown was submitted to Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) on April 13, 2020. This focused on expanding the scope of supply to include essential household & items for work from home, increasing time window for delivery, easing procedures for movement of workforce, nominating nodal officer at the state level for coordination. Subsequently, we have been following up with MHA, Ministry of Commerce and Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MEITY) for easing restrictions on e-commerce. A summary of the representations made to various Central Government ministries is available here |
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Easing cash flows: Extension provided to comply with PF and ESIC timelines |
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Employees’ State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) vide notification no: P-11/14/Misc./1/2019-Rev dated April 13, 2020 extended the date for contribution for February month by 75 days. With this, the last date for making the contribution has been extended to May 15, 2020. In a separate notification dated April 15, 2020, Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) has also extended the date for filing of ECR for the month of March from April 15, 2020 to May 15, 2020. NASSCOM had made a representation on the need to relax these timelines in the interest of the industry. |
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MCA: Extension provided for holding AGM for companies whose financial year ended on December 31, 2019 |
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Subsequent to our representation, on April 22, 2020, the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) permitted companies to hold Annual General Meeting (AGM) within a period of 9 months from the close of financial year (i.e., by September 30, 2020). This is an important relaxation for companies which are subsidiaries of foreign companies in India as the Companies Act 2013 mandate companies to hold AGM of its members either within 6 months from the close of financial year or within 15 months from the date of last AGM (read more) |
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Financial Relief: Advocating for immediate financial package for IT SMEs and small BPM companies |
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We have submitted detailed representation to the Central Government requesting for financial relief for IT SMEs and small BPM companies for a quarter to help protect jobs. Thereafter, we are closely working with MEITY to help design such a scheme. |
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Financial Relief: Rent waiver of IT-ITeS companies housed in Government owned IT buildings |
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NASSCOM has made a representation to the Central Government and the Government of Madhya Pradesh and Kerala requesting for rent waiver for IT-ITeS units housed in building premises owned by the Government, for April to June 2020. The representation also included other requests aimed at easing cash flow constraints of companies such as waiver of property tax, financial support to cover part of the wage cost, subsidized power, etc. Subsequently, the Government of Kerala has announced rent waiver for companies that have leased up to 10000 sq.ft. in any Government owned building for the period April-June 2020 and a 3-month moratorium on rent payment for other companies. MEITY has also waived rent for all units located in the 60 Software Technology Parks of India (STPI) across India (read more). PIB notification providing rental waiver to IT companies is available (read more) |
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Ministry of Finance: Advocacy to exempt stay of foreign expatriates to minimize PE exposure |
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Industry is facing forced changes in the working pattern of their employees who may be operating outside of their country of residence. This raises income tax related issues and can have an impact on the taxation rights between the countries. We made a representation to Ministry of Finance requesting for issue of notifications excluding stay of employees of foreign companies in India for purpose of determining Permanent Establishment (PE) exposure in India (read more) |
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MCA: Advocacy to relax provisions relating to conduct of AGMs by companies |
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In order to observe social distancing norms to fight the spread of COVID-19, it is not prudent for companies to conduct physical AGMs. Further, since printing and postal facilities have also been impacted due to COVID-19, printing and dispatching notice of the AGM as well as annual reports to its shareholders in physical form is difficult. We have made a representation to MCA to relax provisions relating to conduct of AGMs by companies (read more) |
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RBI: Seeking extension of implementation of “Guidelines on Regulation of Payment Aggregators and Payment Gateways” |
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We have urged the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to extend the date of implementation of the Guidelines on Regulation of Payment Aggregators and Payment Gateways until the time industry stabilizes from the impact of COVID-19. The industry is currently not in a position to put an appropriate framework in place, in order to comply with the norms provided in the Guidelines (read more) |
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Centre and State: Advocated measures to introduce labour related reforms and schemes to help protect jobs in the IT-ITeS industry |
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We have made detailed representations to the Central and State Governments on the need to introduce labour related reforms and schemes to minimize the impact of COVID-19 on IT-ITeS companies. We have urged the Government to introduce a temporary job retention / furlough scheme to cover-up some part of the wages in line with the practices that are being followed globally to ensure no job losses. In addition, we made representation to State Governments to provide relaxation from daily working hours’ limit for IT sector employees to minimise employee movement and ensure social distancing norms. We are engaging with Government on wider labour reforms to address industry concerns. (read more here and here) |
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COVID19: NASSCOM FAQs on Work from Home |
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In the backdrop of Covid19 pandemic, organizations are undertaking necessary preventive measures to contain the risk exposure of Covid19, including extending the facility of WFH to their employees. Therefore in order to help and support organisation implement work from home, released a detailed FAQ document to help industry understand the existing regulatory framework related to WFH specially for units operating in STPI/SEZ or registered as Other Service Providers (OSP) with DoT. The FAQs can be access from here |
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Work from Home: Webinars with Airtel and Reliance Jio to enable the industry to improve telecom connectivity for employees |
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In order to help employers with Work from Home (WfH) arrangements and their connectivity requirements, we have partnered with Airtel and Reliance Jio to conduct a series of webinars on April 6th and April 13th, to create awareness on various solutions that are being offered to ensure seamless, secure and productive WfH. More than a thousand plus participants attended these sessions (recording for Airtel webinar is available here and Reliance Jio is available here). |
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| NON COVID-19 RELATED: POLICY SUBMISSIONS AND REPRESENTATIONS |
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Ministry of Commerce: Recommended measures for IT-ITES industry under Champion Service Sector |
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We have highlighted medium to long term interventions needed for sustained growth of employment and exports. In the short term, we have stressed on the need to maintain special focus on recovery, building resilience and business continuity. The recommendations were submitted to Department of Commerce (DoC) for the benefit of the Committee of Secretaries (CoS) monitoring the Champion Service Sector (CSS). The Scheme, approved by Union Cabinet in 2018, seeks to enhance competitiveness of 12 “champion service sectors”, including IT/ITeS industry and promoting GDP, growth, employment and exports through focused and monitored action plans. Amongst other recommendations, we have urged the Government to notify and continue the benefits under existing export promotion schemes including SEIS and SEZ and focussing on investment promotion and domestic procurement of IT/ITeS services read more |
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MCA: Feedback on Draft (Corporate Social Responsibility Policy) Amendment Rules, 2020 seeking extension in applicability of rules from 2020-21 |
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On July 31,2019, Companies (Amendment) Act, 2019 amended S.135 dealing with Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). In order to operationalize the above amendment, MCA sought feedback on draft Companies (Corporate Social Responsibility Policy) Amendment Rules, 2020 to amend the Companies (CSR Policy) Rules, 2014. Based on inputs from members, NASSCOM submitted feedback on the draft Rules to MCA. As part of our feedback, we have requested MCA to consider extension in applicability of draft rules from financial year 2020-21 onwards. We also highlighted that need to consider registered trust and societies as eligible non-profits entities to carry out CSR activities on behalf of the CSR contributing company (read more) |
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Ministry of Finance: Clarification obtained on TDS mechanism for employees who opts for lower rates of tax |
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The Ministry of Finance, on April 13, 2020, clarified that an employee who intends to opt for lower tax regime should intimate the deductor of his intentions. Consequently, the deductor will deduct TDS in accordance with provisions of S.115BAC of the Income-tax Act, 1961. NASSCOM had made a representation seeking this clarification (read more) |
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Discussion Paper on Amendments to Information Technology Act, 2000 |
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NASSCOM will soon be releasing a Discussion Paper on amendments to the Information Technology Act, 2000 (IT Act). This is in light of MEITY’s ongoing review of the IT Act to address regulatory challenges posed by emerging technologies. For more information, please contact komal@nasscom.in and dagarwal@nasscom.in. |
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Discussion Paper on Encryption |
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The past year has witnessed several policy developments in the sphere of data protection and privacy, including introduction of Personal Data Protection Bill, 2019, and other initiatives by the Government of India towards greater cyber security. Equally, the year also saw an increase in the number of serious lapses in data protection, including those brought forth in WhatsApp’s messaging platform through “zero-day vulnerabilities”. All these developments have brought the spotlight back to encryption technologies, one of the key enablers of online privacy. Encryption plays a crucial part in balancing individual privacy, while ensuring law enforcement access to data for the purposes of national and cyber security. We will soon be launching an Industry Discussion Paper on the issues surrounding the use and regulation of encryption technologies in India. For further information, please contact indrajeet@nasscom.in |
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NASSCOM-DSCI: Webinar on Export Compliance for Cybersecurity Start-ups |
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NASSCOM and DSCI are organising a webinar on export compliance for cybersecurity start-ups on May 6, 2020 at 03:00 pm. The session will give an overview of export control regime in India, especially the SCOMET List and export licence exceptions. The webinar is part of NASSCOM’s outreach programme to educate start-ups which export dual-use goods and technology on their legal and compliance obligations under export control laws in India. Kindly register for the free webinar at this link. Contact dagarwal@nasscom.in for more details. |
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MeitY: Three schemes notified to promote electronics industry in India |
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MEITY notified three major schemes to promote electronics industry in India. The Union Cabinet led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi approved these schemes on March 21, 2020. The three schemes, namely, Production Linked Incentive (PLI) Scheme, Electronics Manufacturing Clusters (EMC) 2.0 and Scheme for Promotion of Manufacturing of Electronics Components and Semiconductors (SPECS) are aimed at boosting electronics manufacturing in India by further expanding and increasing domestic value addition (read more) |
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