(a) whether any relaxation has been given for sharing of infrastructure between domestic and international call centres;
(b) if so, the details thereof; and
(c) the benefits likely to accrue to indigenous BPO sector?
(a) whether any relaxation has been given for sharing of infrastructure between domestic and international call centres;
(b) if so, the details thereof; and
(c) the benefits likely to accrue to indigenous BPO sector?
THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (DR. SHAKEEL AHMAD)
(a) & (b) Yes, Sir. The Government has further relaxed the terms and conditions for sharing of common infrastructure between domestic call centres and international call centres. The salient features are given in the Annexure.
(c) The sharing of common infrastructure would enable the Indian BPO sector to use infrastructure optimally because of difference in time zones for domestic and international operations. This will further enhance the cost competitiveness of Indian BPO sector in comparison with the countries like Philippines, South Africa, Pakistan and China etc. Consquently, it will boost BPO/call centres industry and improve the employment opportunities in the country.
Annexure
Salient Terms and Conditions- Sharing of common infrastructure between Domestic and International Call Centres
Sharing of the common infrastructure between Domestic & International OSP Centres has been further liberalised. Following are the salient features:-
i) No turnover restriction. The company shall have atleast 50 seats setup in the call centres.
ii) Sharing of common infrascructure is permitted for Captive as well as Non-Captive call centres.
iii) OSP will have two options for sharing of common infrastructure:
a. OPTION 1: Separate and Independent EPABX to be used for International and domestic OSP Centers with sharing of same operators position.
# A bank Guarantee of Rs. 2.5 crore.
# Only one call shall be offered to the operator position at a time
(be it domestic or international, incoming or outgoing)
b. OPTION 2: International and domestic OSP Centres to share the common EPABX with logical partitioning.
# A bank Guarantee of Rs.5 Crore.
# The Company shall submit a certificate from the Vendors of the EPABX that the software is capable of logically bifurcating the common infrastructure into two separate and independent enviornments for the Domestic OSP and International OSP Centres.
iv) In case of violation of OSP terms and conditions following actions shall be taken:
a. Cancellation of OSP registrations held by the company and the company shall be debarred from taking OSP registration for 3 years from the date of cancellation of such registration.
b. the directors of the board of a company violating OSP terms and conditions shall be debarred for 3 years from taking, directly or indirectly, OSP registration.
The amended `Terms & Conditions -Other Service Provider Category` dated 2.11.2005 are at DoT`s website at www.dot.gov.in/osp/osp.html.