By Fakir Balaji
If the success of its leading lights has made global firms to outsource more from India, thanks to high skills at lower cost, then the recent i-flex visa fiasco has turned the heat in the manner Indian geeks are deployed overseas for either onsite projects or trouble-shooting missions.
Though the government and Nasscom have rushed to the beleaguered company’s rescue, the fact that the Dutch government had asked Interpol to issue a red alert for the arrest of i-Flex’s subsidiary CEO by the UK police sums up the magnitude of the visa violation.
One wonders whether i-flex would have gone public about its culpability had it not been a listed company and had no obligation to inform the Bombay Stock Exchange, accordingly.
Being birds of same feather, captains of the industry and association heads also tried to gloss over the flagrant violation by dubbing it an aberration or a one-time exception. Even IT minister Arun Shourie tried to blow away the issue by saying one should not read too much into it as there was no pattern emerging nor was it related to the earlier incidents in Malaysia and Thailand involving Indian IT professionals.
At the same time, Shourie spilled the beans, albeit indirectly, by quoting Wipro czar Azim Premji that "IT firms should follow the visa rules and regulations very strictly, and they should take their customers into confidence in all their dealings."
Be that as it may, independent investigations have revealed that i-Flex was indeed at fault by allowing its techies to work at its customer’s site in the Netherlands though they were there only on business visas.
According to an Indian expatriate, who works in one of the Benelux countries, no Dutch firm can pay salary to anyone, whether native or foreign, unless they are registered with the employment bureau and obtain a social security number (Sofi). And in the case of overseas professionals, they must also hold a valid work permit.
More over, if expatriates are to engage in work, the thumb rule in the Benelux region is they should take up residence and inform the authorities duly, while those travelling on business visa can stay in hotels.
Apparently, the Dutch police got wind of the violation by i-flex techies when it discovered that they were working onsite and getting even paid without the Sofi number though they were there on 3-6 month business visas called Schengen visa, which allows them to only travel or strike business deals but not stay put to work.
What’s more, such an offence is so serious in the Netherlands that instead of employees, it is the employer who faces prosecution, including imprisonment.
If the Dutch visa procedures are so strict and fool proof, it is anybody’s guess whether a global company of i-Flex’s reputation or standing, could afford to be
oblivious of the ground rules. If not, it owes an explanation to its shareholders as well the country on what went wrong, or where it could have faltered.
Ignorance of visa rules or work permits can be no excuse if Indian IT companies have to take advantage of the competition and harness their potential in the face of a global tech meltdown.
If backlash against Indian geeks has began to simmer overseas, as in the US and UK of late, then Indian companies have to be quite serious about following the rules of the game and complying with the laws of the land.
(The author is a freelance journalist. Views expressed here are those of the author and does not reflect that of CIOL. He can be contacted at rainbow@now-india.net.in)