BPO industries sigh a relief as Government simplifies Other Service Provider (OSP) guidelines

With an aim to qualitatively improve the Ease of Doing Business of the IT Industry particularly Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) and IT Enabled Services, the Government has drastically simplified the Other Service Provider(OSP) guidelines of the Department of Telecom.

The new guidelines tremendously reduce the compliance burden of the BPO industry. The guidelines can be accessed here.

It is clarified that the registration requirement for OSPs has been done away with altogether and the BPO industry engaged in data-related work has been taken out of the ambit of OSP regulations.

In addition, requirements such as deposit of bank guarantees, the requirement for static IPs, frequent reporting obligations, the publication of network diagram, penal provisions, etc. have also been removed.

Similarly, several other requirements, which prevented companies from adopting ‘Work from Home’ and ‘Work from Anywhere’ policies have also been removed. Additional dispensations to enhance flexibility for the Industry have been allowed.

The new framework is expected to provide a strong impetus to India’s industry and will make India one of the most competitive IT jurisdictions in the World. The new guidelines are inspired by Prime Minister Modi’s strong emphasis on Minimum Government, Maximum Governance.

With this reform, the Government of India says it is sending out a strong signal of its support to the IT industry with a view to encouraging increased investment in the Sector.

The reform will certainly unleash the potential of our talented youth by making India as a preferred destination for Information and Knowledge Outsourcing Industry and would further the vision of ‘AtmaNirbhar Bharat’.

NASSCOM believes that this reform is extremely heartening to see the government’s commitment towards Ease of Doing Business, and its focus on the IT-BPM industry’s sustainable future. The spokesperson said that the new guidelines will tremendously reduce the compliance burden of the BPM industry.

"The registration requirement for OSPs has also been done away with altogether.  There are some security-related obligations for voice-based OSP which appear to be fine. The BPM industry engaged in data-related work has been completely taken out of the ambit of the definition of an OSP. Access to remote working will give our industry an epic boost and significantly expand access to talent, increase job creation, catapult Indian IT and BPM to the next level of growth and innovation, thereby making India a global tech hub," read the opinion note by NASSCOM.