Top BPO companies today said the ban on diesel taxis in Delhi NCR region has brought the BPM (formerly BPO) industry almost to a standstill.
The BPM industry in NCR alone provides direct and indirect employment to over 1 million people and many of them work on mission critical project for global clients with a significant portion of the industry working in night shifts.
“With 38 percent women employees in our industry, their safety has always been a big concern to us. we are mandated to provide transportation for home drop to employees working after 8PM. Taxis play a major role in ensuring this. In absence of any reliable public transport, complying with this statutory guideline is impossible,” said Raman Roy, MD of Quatrro.
Keshav Murugesh, group CEO of WNS, said: “We need immediate relief as this involves the delivery of critical operations to clients outside India, half of the workforce of this industry is women, and their safety is paramount.”
The industry that is largely youth dominated and export oriented contributes over $25 billion with NCR being a major hub for operations by big companies many whom are MNCs and Fortune 500.
60-65 percent employees reside within Delhi and need to reach their offices in Gurgaon and Noida where the industry is located.
“As an industry, we are perhaps the cleanest, least polluting and most compliant. If the appropriate infrastructure like enough CNG stations & good supply factory fitted CNG vehicles is made available, we can switch expeditiously,” Vidya Srinivasan, Sr VP of Genpact.
Companies have already taken steps to use public transport, switch to CNG but the gap is still very big to fill. NASSCOM representatives have met Delhi Police and Ministry of IT, reached to various ministries like Finance, Heavy Industries, and Environment and also to PMO to share pressing concerns.
Many companies are viewing this as a death knell for BPM industry given practical challenges like long waiting at CNG Stations, limited vehicles, no technology to convert diesel to CNG, Insurance and warranty of retrofitted vehicles etc. Companies wish to comply but where are the cabs.
