By its Circular dated March 13, 2020 (‘Circular’), DoT has issued certain relaxations in the terms and conditions prescribed for Other Service Providers (‘OSPs’), with respect to the ability of their employees to work from home, applicable till April 30, 2020, which includes exemptions to OSPs from: (a) the requirement to pay a security deposit and have an agreement to enable work-from-home options; (b) the requirement of having a secured VPN from an authorized service provider (OSPs may now use secured VPNs configured using ‘static IP’ addresses by themselves to enable interconnection between the home agent position and the OSP center with pre-defined locations); and (c) the requirement to seek prior permission for providing work-from-home facility. OSPs are however required to notify the designated field units of the DoT before starting the facility. Violation of the terms of this facility by any agent/employee or the OSP, until April 30, 2020 will render the OSP liable for a monetary penalty of up to Rs 500,000 (approx. US$ 6,500), per work-from-home location which is in violation and the OSP registration is also liable to be cancelled.