OUTSOURCING OF BUSINESS SERVICES
The operations of
call centres in India would not be greatly affected due to passage
of legislation by some States of USA against the outsourcing of
business services. These bills deal with only state government
contracts which account for a fraction of business of Indian call
centres. This was stated by the Minister for Communications, Information
Technology and Disinvestment, Shri Arun Shourie in reply to a
question by Smt. Bimba Raikar in Rajya Sabha today.
With active support
from the Government of India, NASSCOM have been working very closely
with US policy makers, media, legislators, customers and US Industry
Associations to highlight the benefits of outsourcing, creation
of jobs and competitiveness of various industries. A NASSCOM delegation
visited USA in March 2003 and had meetings at New Jersey, Washington
D.C., Maryland and Washington. It has also hired a reputed Public
Relations firm to do the lobbying on behalf of the Indian IT industry.
No laws have
been passed on outsourcing in US. However, Bills were introduced
in the New Jersey State’s Senate and Assembly which required every
State contract for the performance of services, to include provisions
specifying that only persons authorised to work in the United
States may be employed under the contract or any subcontract.
As per current status, after having been passed by the New Jersey
State Senate, the New Jersey Bill was referred by the New Jersey
State Assembly to the State Government Committee which, in turn,
has referred the Bill back to the Senator who had introduced the
Bill, for reconsideration. Hence it is yet to be passed.
It is also understood
that some other US States like Maryland, Connecticut and Washington
are considering similar moves though differing in scope. The proposals
in the States of California, Missouri and Wisconsin are at a preliminary
discussion stage.
While the state
of Maryland is considering setting up a task force to study the
implications of outsourcing, the state of Connecticut is considering
a similar bill which will apply only to companies which are incorporated
outside the US.
The State of
Washington is considering a Bill on government procurement that
seeks to provide incentives to companies which do at least 60%
of the work in the state. There were not enough sponsors and hence
this Bill was not discussed in the State Assembly. However, the
initiation of this Bill was supported by the technical workers
Union.
These bills are
not specific to India and seek to impose global restrictions on
procurement of services by the State.
