Being probed for alleged visa rule violations in the US, Indian software
services giants
Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) and
Infosys said on
Friday they are "fully compliant" with the immigration rules.
Bangalore-based
IT services major Infosys said it has received "no indication of any
broader investigation" on its visa practices.
"The US Department
of Labor (DOL) regularly selects a percentage of visa and labour
condition applications for extra scrutiny in the IT industry.
"We
work closely with the DOL to assist them in this activity in the
ordinary course of our business. We have received no indication of any
broader investigation of Infosys visa practices," Infosys said in an
emailed reply to queries sent in this regard.
Expressing similar
views, the country's largest software services firm TCS said it
maintains rigorous controls to ensure compliance to all regulatory
requirements.
"TCS maintains rigorous internal controls to ensure
we are fully compliant with all regulatory requirements related to the
US immigration laws including those related to H-1B visas," a TCS
spokesperson said.
Often used by the IT firms, H-1B visa is a
non-immigrant visa, which allows US employers to temporarily employ
foreign workers in speciality occupations.
According to the US
media reports, the Labour Department has opened an investigation against
Tata Consultancy Services and Infosys for "possible violations of rules
for visas for foreign technology workers under contracts they held with
an electric utility Southern California Edison".
Infosys, in the
past, has faced visa-related issues when one of its former employees,
Jack Palmer filed a whistle- blower lawsuit, saying he had been punished
and sidelined by company executives after he reported witnessing
widespread visa fraud.
Industry body Nasscom said attempts were
being made to portray the Indian IT sector negatively without paying
attention to "facts and logic".
Nasscom President R Chandrashekhar
said its members continue to cooperate with the US authorities in
respect of any requests for information.
The US is the largest market for the over $140 billion (roughly Rs. 8,83,398 crores) Indian IT services industry. Exports account for over $98 billion (roughly Rs. 6,18,379 crores).
Asked
whether he feels the issue could be a political rhetoric ahead of the
Presidential elections in the US next year, Chandrashekhar said it is
"unfortunate" that attempts are being made in some quarters to portray
the contribution of Indian IT companies in a negative light and "to
create negative sentiments about them by appeal to emotion rather than
to facts and logic".
Such efforts would have "serious detrimental
impact" on the strategic and mutually beneficial economic and trade
relationship that the two countries are striving to nurture,
Chandrashekhar said.
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