NEW DELHI: The government on Thursday eased the rules for units in special economic zones (SEZs), with prime focus on the IT and IT-enabled services sector, allowing their entire staff to work from home (WFH) up to December 2023, without having to take permission from the authorities in the enclaves.
The plan, which has been in the works for the last few months, does away with the current mechanism that leaves it to the discretion of development commissioners of SEZs to allow the entire workforce to shift to WFH mode.
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A notification issued by the commerce department said new rules will cover IT and ITeS sector, employees who are incapacitated, those who are working offsite or are travelling.
For units already availing of WFH under the earlier regime, intimation could be sent by email till December 31, 2023. Units seeking WFH in future can email an intimation on or before the date of commencement of WFH, a source in the commerce department said.
The current rules required companies to submit a list in a specified format to the development commissioner, but now that stipulation has been done away with. “In a major #eodb (Ease of Doing Business) step to enable #IT #BPM industry in #SEZ to operate a flexible #hybridwork model, @DoC_GoI (commerce department) has today simplified the rules. This will enable the hybrid model to stabilise & evolve over the next year. Huge thanks to Govt. for the support!” IT lobby group Nasscom tweeted.
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Companies have also been allowed to provide computers and other devices to workers during WFH mode, while asking them to ensure that duty-free goods are accounted for.
Similarly, temporary removal of laptops or other goods purchased on a duty-free basis for use in SEZs has also been permitted. Officials said this can be done without having to take prior approval from customs authorities and only records have to be maintained by the entities. A time limit has not been prescribed in the notification, which meant that it would be applicable until the end of 2023, officials said.
“It is a major step towards facilitation as no permissions are required now and units only need to inform the authorities. The earlier system was creating a lot of work for us as well as companies and now there is a lot of flexibility that has been given,” a government official said.
