Karnataka: KITU Holds Protest in Bengaluru, Demands End to Labour Rules’ Exemption for Tech Sector

New Delhi: The Karnataka State IT/ITeS Employees Union (KITU) has demanded that the government should not extend the exemption given to the IT/ITeS sector from the Industrial Employment (Standing Orders) Act. The exemption was granted to the sector in May 2019 for a period of five years, which is set to end in May this year.

In a protest march to the Labour Commissioner’s office in Bengaluru on Saturday, March 16, hundreds of IT sector employees demanded that “anti-worker” policies, such as exemption for the tech sector in the Act, be withdrawn.

The Act spells out rules to be followed by industries during the recruitment of an employee, their working hours, attendance, procedure for obtaining leave, rights and liabilities of the employees arising from closing and temporary stoppages of work, termination and suspension etc. However, the Act has exempted the IT and IT Enabled Services sector from these rules.

According to KITU, as quoted by News Minute,  the reason stated for the exemption to the IT and ITeS sector is that these are ‘sunrise’ industries, but these cannot be allowed to grow “throwing workers’ rights to the air”. 

TNM said several employees in the tech sector had told the news website on the condition of anonymity that they had seen “arbitrary termination, mass retrenchment, long working hours without extra pay, and even sexual harassment at work place”, claiming that many IT firms “do not even have a complaints committee in place.”

Sooraj Nidiyanga, KITU general secretary, told TNM that the new Congress-led Karnataka government should not renew the exemption, as the “employers have not complied with the conditions imposed on them while giving the exemption. “

According to KITU, the IT/ITeS sector, which employs more than 20 lakh workers in Karnataka, has “obtained for more than four occasions exemption from applicability of IE(SO) Act.”

In a Facebook post, KITU said the exemption should not be extended to the sector as several companies had violated four conditions imposed on them while giving the exemption.

“As per the conditions for granting the exemption, firstly each and every conditions flouted by the sector\establishment need to constitute ‘Internal Committee’ as per the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act 2013 and rules made thereunder. Conditions mandated the constitution of the Grievance Redressal Committee by every establishment. The condition compels that every establishment shall Intimate the labour department, information regarding cases of disciplinary action, discharge, termination, demotion, dismissal etc.”

The union alleged that “all these conditions are blatantly violated by the establishments and thousands of employees are discharged, without notice or enquiry, laid off and retrenched wholesale without complying with the legal requirement to seek permission of the appropriate government under Industrial Disputes Act. “

KITU said it had also filed a writ petition in Karnataka High Court challenging the exemption.

In the past two years, the tech industry has seen massive lay-offs in India, as part of the global shake-up. According to reports, in 2024 so far, around 32,000 employees have lost jobs in the tech sector.