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Transport remains a critical factor for BPO employees

V. Jayanth

Court ruling in Karnataka case sparks heated debate

Transport or security officers can be made accountable
Staff insist on existing transport arrangements

— Photo: K. Gopinathan

Imperative need: In view of the transport strike in Bangalore, BPOs had requisitioned BMTC buses to transport their staff.

CHENNAI: The Supreme Court’s ruling in the Karnataka case, paving the way for the trial of a BPO Chief Executive Officer for negligence under the Shops and Establishments Act, has sparked a heated debate on the responsibilities and accountability of CEOs.

In this particular case, a woman BPO employee was raped and murdered allegedly by a cab driver as she was returning home after night duty.

Aside from the more serious question of whether CEOs are responsible or culpable in such cases — which the courts will decide — the larger issue that it has raised relates to the transport of employees in the IT-ITES-BPO sector.

When the industry employs around 1.8 million people across the country, many of them quite young, transport arrangements become a serious problem. Given the odd working hours of this sector, the imperative night duty, and the need to work to the hours of foreign clients, industry sources agree that it will be impossible to expect all employees — men and women — to make their own transport arrangements. This assumes greater significance in cities and town that do not have an organised or efficient public transport system, which may not anyway be operational beyond midnight.

The Bangalore police filed a case against the CEO of the BPO for failing in his duty to provide safety and security to a woman employee who was on night duty. Under the Act, he or she has to take responsibility for her safety.

Top management officials in the IT and BPO sector contacted after the apex court ruling, made one thing clear — the time had come for updating some of the outdated laws of the land, especially in relation to industry and labour. None of the existing laws could suit the IT-ITES sector, which has been a new phenomenon, they argued.

Employees seemed to be more concerned about the need for permanent transport arrangements by the company itself. Sowmya, who works for a BPO at its Velachery office in Chennai, said: “Some weeks we leave for work at 8 a.m., sometimes it is night shift. We work at odd hours, but the office transport gets tuned to our shifts. Without this arrangement, we just cannot work. It is just not possible for all of us to have cars and driving a two-wheeler at night may not be safe either. Without the transport system in place, it will be very difficult for this industry to get thousands of employees every year.”

S. Bhargava, recently transferred from Bangalore to Chennai, said: “I would have been all at sea in this new city. Luckily, we have office transport. Otherwise, half my salary will go for transport expenses.”

But the point that everyone tried to make was simple — companies have to arrange transport and also ensure it was safe and secure. The companies could designate their transport or security officers to oversee this aspect, instead of holding the CEO culpable. Human Resource Managers said the initial reports, especially on television, jolted them a little. But they realised that the issue of the CEO’s culpability remained to be decided upon by the courts.

The thinking in some circles was to give up transport arrangements and instead pay the employees a handsome conveyance allowance. But the staff insisted on the continuance of existing transport arrangements.

Another suggestion that was thrown up was to provide a security guard for every bus or mini bus run for the staff. Transport operators, who run dozens of buses for the IT-ITES companies, said by and large there had been very few complaints.

“We are constantly talking to our drivers and educating them on manners and behaviour. But there is an acute shortage of trained drivers. Some black sheep do get in. When we get repeated complaints against a particular driver, we weed him out,” said R. Ravichandran, who manages one of the larger transport companies here.

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