The nation is going through the second lockdown and most of the companies are operating from home. The lockdown 2.0 is valid till May 3rd until further notice. 

In a recent announcement, Union IT& Law Minister, Ravi Shankar Prasad has stated that in the response to IT Industry’s request to facilitate WFH for OSPs, the Department of Telecommunications, Govt of India had relaxed terms & conditions for VPN till 30.4.20. After discussions with IT Ministers, this relaxation in terms & conditions is extended till 31.7.20

The decision to extend the relaxations for work from home policy was taken following the request of different States and also the understanding that 85 per cent work of the IT is being done from home. 

According to a media report, the minister also said that a lot of relaxations were given for work from home and IT Secretary, Communication Secretary, and Postal Secretary gave presentations of their departments citing requirements and expectations by the Centre from the state departments. Norms for work from home have been relaxed. "We will aspire that work from home should become a new norm," said Prasad while asking the participants to encourage young entrepreneurs investing in new startups. 

Companies are expecting a tremendous change in the workplace post this crisis. They are working out new ways to remain productive during the remote working hour and going forward this can become the new normal. 

In a recent move, Tata Consultancy Services is looking to discard its 20-year-old operating model on account of the COVID-19 pandemic. By 2025, TCS will ask a vast majority of 75% of its 4.48 lakh employees globally (including 3.5 lakh in India) to work from home (WFH), up from the industry average of 20% today. The new model called 25/25 will require far less office space than occupied today.