DOT Relaxes Norms for Work from Home in OSPs

In light of the uncontrollable COVID-19 outbreak, Department of Telecommunication have reaffirmed the relaxations to work from home that it introduced in March 2020.

In this article, we are going to dive deep into those relaxations and see if they are fruitful to OSPs in the current scenario.

Relaxations to Work from Home

Before we delve into the deeper nature of those relaxations, let’s see what those relaxations are:

1. Security deposit: As per the relaxation, the OSPs are now exempted from depositing securities during this time.
2. Agreement for Work from Home: Before the current situation, a Work from Home agreement was needed to avail the WFH facility. However, this has now changed.
3. No prior permission required: As the entire nation is going under sudden lockdown, prior permission is not required by the OSPs to given work from home facility to their employees.
4. Secured VPN Connection: A secured VPN connection ensures that the communication on the internet can’t be spied on by unauthorized individuals. That being said, its security is so thorough that even DOT has a hard time to look past it. Thus, it was not allowed. However, due to the restriction of resources caused to COVID-19, DOT has allowed the use of VPN to ensure that communication over the internet within the OSP is protected. That said,
5. Agents to be automatically treated as extended agents: All the workers that are doing their job under the “Work from Home” structure will be regarded as extended agents.

What do these relaxations mean for the OSPs?

Considering the pandemic has driven many to work from their homes, OSPs are restrategizing and making use of Tele-presence for their employees. Keshav Murugesh, Chairman of Nasscom and WNS Group CEO, said that the industry has to encourage their members to adopt telepresence and video conferencing. It will work in two folds:

1. It will ensure that there is minimal contact between the workers, jus ensuring their well beings.
2. It will also hedge the losses that the company might have suffered if not for work from home facilities.

Not everything has changed

Despite the aforementioned relaxations, OSPs are never going to be not under scrutiny. They still have to maintain an optimal ethical standard and ensure that info is recorded for the time when the inspection happens. Furthermore, OSP Licenses can still be cancelled. Thus, it’s important that companies use these work from home OSP relaxations wisely.

Conclusion

While the current India is in the unlock phase, there are some states that still have to operate in Work from Home environment. We have delivered this information to you today because the COVID-19 conditions in the country are deteriorating, and working from home will lead your company towards salvations, and you will become stronger in the end.

Author: Dushyant Sharma

Hey there, I'm Dushyant Sharma. With the extensive knowledge I've gained in past 8 years, I have been creating content on various subjects such as banking, insurance, telecom, and all the important registration and licensing processes for various companies. I'm here to help everyone with my expertise in these areas through my articles.