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Public Policy
Monthly Mailer |
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| March 2025 |
Vol 7, Issue 3 |
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| MEITY | Suggestions for National Framework for GCCs |
The Hon’ble Finance Minister, during Union Budget 2025-26, announced the formulation of a national framework for promoting GCCs in emerging tier-II cities. This framework seeks to address talent availability, infrastructure development, building code reforms, and industry collaboration mechanisms. As part of our initial feedback we have suggested that the proposed framework should enable:
- Development of hubs to cater to GCCs
- Ease of Doing Business
- Talent and Skill Development
- Infrastructure development
- Marketing and Branding
- Incentives and Support
In case you have any specific feedback on the above, please reach out to vertika@nasscom.in and tejasvi@nasscom.in (Read more). |
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| MEITY | Report on AI Governance Guidelines Development |
We submitted our feedback on the Report stating that given that the subcommittee was constituted in November 2023, and as per the available information, report was finalised in early 2024, recent developments in the global AI ecosystem have not been considered. We suggested a two-pronged approach to governance that focuses on enabling an ecosystem for innovation and growth, and mitigation of real and observable harms. We noted that the design and implementation of this approach may be based on certain considerations, such as avoiding prescriptive governance frameworks, building capacity to deal with developments in key overseas markets, and prioritising AI models that are tailored to India-centric use-cases. We provide our feedback on specific points in the report, including, among others, the proposed empowered mechanism to coordinate AI governance, AI incident database, voluntary commitments, and the copyrights act. (Read more)
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| BIS | Feedback on draft standard for e-commerce Self-Governance |
On February 28, 2025, nasscom submitted feedback on the Draft BIS Standard – e-commerce – Principles and Guidelines for Self-Governance, highlighting key areas needing review for practical implementation and regulatory alignment. We raised concerns about the unclear scope of the standard, as it excludes online sellers and service providers, and highlighted that the prohibition on platform-affiliated sellers can cause potential disruption to legitimate business models. Nasscom also flagged the impractical burden of verifying product authenticity on platforms that do not hold inventory, and the unfeasible disclosure requirements for material composition and environmental impact, especially for electronic, electrical etc. products. Our overall recommendations focused on clarity, balanced regulation, and reduced compliance burdens to ensure a fair and efficient e-commerce ecosystem (Read more)
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| MERC | Feedback on multi-year tariff petition by Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Co. Ltd |
We submitted our feedback to MERC on February 17, on the changes proposed by Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Co. Ltd. In relation to ToD charges under their petition. Given that data centres are expected to operate round-the-clock to provide their services, the ability to bank surplus power generated during solar hours and withdraw the same during non-solar hours is a crucial enabling factor for DC operators. The existing tariff in Maharashtra levied ToD charges for 11 hours and the proposal would levy these charges to 16 hours out of total 24 hours, which can impact economic viability of drawing banked energy. We have requested MERC to reject the proposed changes by MSEDCL in the ToD tariff regime and continue with the existing structure and time slots. (Read More)
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| SEBI | Response to consultation paper on draft circular for management statement and auditor’s/ independent practitioner’s report on digital assurance |
| On February 25, we submitted our feedback to SEBI requesting them to provide some guidance on the specific regulatory gaps/ deficiencies that this new requirement of management statement and auditor’s / independent practitioner’s report on digital assurance is intended to address. Further, we have also requested SEBI to extend the compliance deadline by at least 6 months. This would allow companies and their auditors adequate time to thoroughly understand the requirements, develop appropriate frameworks, and ensure meaningful compliance with these new regulatory obligations. For more information, please reach out to tejasvi@nasscom.in. |
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| GST | Meeting with commissioner of State Taxes, Karnataka to discuss GST issues impacting tech and ecommerce industry |
We met the GST commissioner of State Taxes, Karnataka, along with the industry delegation, to discuss GST issues impacting the technology and e-commerce industry. During the discussion, we highlighted the following issues:
For IT-ITeS:
- the need for removal of intermediary concept given that past circulars have not been effective in ensuring that IT services are not misclassified as intermediary,
- seeking clarity for IT/ITeS companies operating through overseas branch offices,
- enabling SEZ units to claim refund of unutilised input tax credit, as current regulations only permit suppliers to SEZ units to claim refund of taxes paid,
- Issues faced by taxpayers during GST audits.
For ecommerce:
- issues pertaining to tax treatment of delivery charges for food delivery platforms,
- need for recognition of home state principal place of business for sellers selling through ecommerce operators,
- Issues faced by taxpayers in obtaining GST registrations,
- Streamlining process for making aadhaar authentication more user-friendly.
We will be following up with the Government for suitable next steps. For more details, please write to tejasvi@nasscom.in. |
| CBIC | Meeting with Chairman to discuss GST issues impacting the industry |
We met the CBIC Chairman to discuss GST issues impacting the technology and e-commerce industry. During the meeting, we discussed the need for removal of intermediary concept under GST given that past circulars issued have not been effective in ensuring that IT services are not misclassified as intermediary, need for clarity for IT-ITeS companies operating through overseas branch offices to render services to its customers outside India, need for recognition of home state principal place of business for sellers selling through e-commerce operators, tax treatment of delivery fees charged by food delivery platforms, amongst others. For more details, please write to tejasvi@nasscom.in.
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| Karnataka Government | Discussion on Draft Karnataka Space Policy 2024-29 |
| We participated in a discussion on the draft policy held in Bengaluru. The Policy seeks to foster sustainable growth in Karnataka’s space sector in Karnataka through multiple strategic pillars including skills development, investment attraction, infrastructure enhancement, innovation support, technology adoption, and public awareness initiatives. We emphasised the importance of creating an effective procurement framework for outputs from the space sector and the need for a dedicated body for providing technical expertise to the government. For more information, please write to dhananjay@nasscom.in. |
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| SIG | on Data Centers |
| Nasscom has proposed to set up a SIG on DC to collectively shape the conversation on common asks of DC industry and spearhead discussions before relevant government authorities. We are in the process of receiving nominations from DC operators including hyperscale DC, colocation DCs and cloud service providers for participation in the SIG. Thereafter, we plan to hold the first meeting of the SIG in New Delhi on April 04, 2025. |
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| TRAI | Recommendations on T&C of network authorisations to be granted under the Telecommunications Act, 2023 |
| Nasscom submitted the feedback on the TRAI Consultation Paper on the issue of CDNs, IXPs and Captive Use Authorisation. TRAI has accepted our recommendations on content delivery network to not bring it within the purview of authorisation/registration regime. On captive use authorisation, TRAI stated that this is out of scope of the present consultation process. We would continue advocacy on this issue with the Government. On CLS, TRAI recommended a need to introduce CLS Provider Authorisation with a broad scope of providing access facilitation to the essential facilities at CLS. (Read more) |
| CBIC |
Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs |
| CLS |
Cable Landing Station |
| DC |
Data Centre |
| FDI |
Foreign Direct Investment |
| GCC |
Global Capability Centre |
| GST |
Goods and Services Tax |
| IFSC in GIFT city |
International Financial Services Centre in Gujarat International Finance Tec-City |
| IT |
Information Technology |
| IT Act |
Information Technology Act, 2000 |
| ITeS |
Information Technology Enabled Services |
| IXP |
Internet Exchange Points |
| MEITY |
Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology |
| MERC |
Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission |
| MOF |
Ministry of Finance |
| RBI |
Reserve Bank of India |
| SEBI |
Securities and Exchange Board of India |
| SEZ |
Special Economic Zones |
| SIG |
Special Interest Group |
| TRAI |
Telecom Regulatory Authority of India |
| ToD |
Time of Day |
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| www.nasscom.in |
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