UPSC Articles
Guidelines for Other Service Providers (OSPs)
Part of: GS Prelims and GS -III – Telecommunications
In news
- Recently, the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has eased the norms for Other Service Providers (OSPs).
Important Features of New Policy
- Distinction between Domestic and International OSPs has been removed.
- A BPO centre with common Telecom resources will now be able to serve customers located worldwide including in India.
- Now, the interconnectivity between all types of OSP centres is permitted.
- The Electronic Private Automatic Branch Exchange (EPABX) of OSPs can now be located anywhere in the world.
- Removed the requirement of OSPs submitting their reports to the DoT on a period basis.
- Other Provisions:
- Exempted OSPs from requirement of any registration.
- No Bank Guarantees are to be furnished.
- Work from Home and Work from Anywhere also permitted.
- Penalties for violations were removed altogether
Benefits
- The move is expected to provide a fillip to the BPO sector as well as create jobs.
- The new guidelines will add to India’s attractiveness in ease of doing business,
About Business process outsourcing (BPO)
- BPO is a business practice in which an organization contracts with an external service provider to perform an essential business task.
- OSPs or Other Service Providers are companies or firms which provide secondary or tertiary services such as telemarketing, telebanking or telemedicine for various companies.
