Government, IT industry demand parity for Indian business in US

NEW DELHI: The government and the IT industry are understood to have demanded parity between Indian and local businesses in America at the 11th US-India ICT Working Group meeting held here today. Both Indian and US services firm are supplying similar services in the US market but because of PL 111-230, Indian service suppliers are being meted different treatment, a Department of Commerce official is believed to have said, according to sources who attended the meeting. "This is violation of US commitment under mode 3," the official is believed to have said at the meeting. Public Law 111-230 was signed by US President Barack Obama, under which a visa seeker is required to submit an additional fee of USD 2,000 for certain H-1B petitions and USD 2,250 for certain L-1A and L-1B petitions. The official said at the meeting that this regulation, under mode 4, nullifies and impairs US commitments to the WTO. James Zadroga levies 2 per cent tax and levies on services procured from certain WTO countries and not from other WTO countries. Again this is an issue which erodes basic WTO principles, the official is believed to have said. Under the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act last year America had imposed 2 per cent tax on US government procurement from foreign companies and also extended the present visa fee on certain categories from 2014 to 2015. The official highlighted that Indian professionals working in the US are suffering because of mis-match in the US domestic regulation. "Your regulation for social security and visa makes difficult for professionals to survive who contributes from his salary month after month but is not entitled to commensurate benefit that according to us is more of ethical issues," the official noted. Similar issues were raised by representative from Nasscom, the software services industry body. "Ohio has banned offshore IT projects. There is 2 per cent excise tax on goods and services purchased by foreign suppliers. Our market is open and we want similar access for Indian companies into other markets," said a Nasscom official. Indian industry and government representative requested their counterparts in the US present in the meet to take note of the issue and resolve as early as possible. "Knowledge is global and workforce is global. They plenty to talk about immigration (rules) on both sides, in both countries. Because of the importance of economic relationship we firmly recommend high level dialogue," said representative of United States India Buisness Council (USIBC). 13 Dec 2011 http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2011-12-13/news/30511945_1_present-visa-fee-l-1a-wto