The indefinite strike called by the Greater Hyderabad Cabs and Bus Operators Association (GHCBOA) from Wednesday evening did not have much impact on IT and BPO industries as they had charted their action plan well ahead to cope with the issue.
Satyam Computer Services Limited, India's fourth largest IT exporter, and its BPO arm Satyam BPO Limited (formerly Nipuna) had done advanced planning, courtesy the cab vendors who broke the news to them one week before. The industry depends primarily on private transport for providing pick-up and drop facilities to their employees.
"Workwise, the strike has little impact on us. However, we have postponed some of our programmes, including client visits, for the time being. We usually require 40 buses and a matching number of cabs every day to ferry our employees.
Due to the strike, we have approached the Andhra Pradesh State Road Transport Authority (APSRTC) for 16 chartered service buses, besides relying on our associates and higher officials' personal cars," HR Prasad, head (global corporate services), Satyam Computer, told Business Standard.
GHCBOA is demanding the state government withdraw its decision to impose a 12.5 per cent value-added tax on the transport service operators. There are around 100,000 IT and BPO professionals working in Hyderabad who utilise cab and bus services.
Satyam BPO has also taken on rent guest houses in and around the Hitec City, which can accommodate 150 of its associates who work for two shifts in a row to ensure that the business continuity is not affected. The company has 4,000-odd employees working out of six offices, with 120 private cabs attached to the company's Hyderabad operations.
"We have sent circulars to our associates who come from far off places that they should come prepared to stay overnight. Apart from the APSRTC buses that are running in eight pre-designated routes in a tie-up with us and the 10 Tata's nine-seater