IT Employees Union NITES Urges Government to Issue Mandatory Work From Home Advisory for IT Sector After PM Modi Fuel Conservation Appeal
India’s information technology employees’ union, the Nascent Information Technology Employees Senate (NITES), has written to Union Labour and Employment Minister Mansukh Mandaviya urging the government to issue a formal advisory directing mandatory work-from-home (WFH) arrangements for the IT and IT-enabled services (IT/ITES) sector wherever operationally feasible. The letter, dated 11 May 2026 and signed by NITES president Harpreet Singh Saluja, comes in direct response to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s recent public appeal for citizens and organisations to reduce unnecessary travel, conserve fuel, and adopt remote working practices amid the global energy crisis.
The demand has reignited the contentious debate over remote work in India’s $250 billion IT industry — a sector that employs over 5.4 million people directly and millions more indirectly, and which demonstrated during the COVID-19 pandemic that large-scale remote work is not only viable but in many cases more productive than traditional office-based operations.
What Is NITES Demanding?
In the letter addressed to the Ministry of Labour and Employment, NITES outlined a specific set of demands centred on making PM Modi’s fuel conservation appeal operationally effective within the IT sector. The key asks include a formal government advisory to all IT and ITES companies to implement mandatory WFH for roles that can be performed remotely, a recommended period of at least three months for the WFH arrangement (subject to review based on the energy crisis situation), protection for employees who work from home from any adverse performance reviews or career penalties, and a framework for monitoring compliance by employers.
NITES argued that its demands are directly aligned with the national interest. “The Indian IT industry successfully operated remotely during the COVID-19 pandemic without losing productivity, proving that large-scale WFH is practical, technically possible, and sustainable,” the letter stated. “With India’s crude oil imports already under severe pressure and fuel prices threatening household budgets, WFH in the IT sector can significantly reduce unnecessary travel and help save foreign exchange.”
PM Modi’s Appeal: The Catalyst
The NITES letter was directly triggered by PM Modi’s recent appeal to the nation, in which he urged people and organisations to cut down on unnecessary travel, save fuel, and adopt work-from-home arrangements wherever possible. The Prime Minister’s appeal came amid the ongoing disruption to global energy supplies caused by the US-Iran war and the partial blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, which has pushed crude oil prices above $105 per barrel and put intense pressure on India’s fuel import bill.
Modi’s framing of the issue as a matter of national duty resonated with many in the IT sector, where the return-to-office (RTO) mandates imposed by major companies in 2024 and 2025 had been a source of significant employee dissatisfaction. Companies including TCS, Infosys, Wipro, and HCL Technologies had progressively tightened their attendance requirements, with some mandating four or five days of in-office work per week despite employee preference surveys consistently showing that a majority of IT workers prefer hybrid or fully remote arrangements.
The IT Industry’s Response
The IT industry’s response to the NITES demand has been mixed. NASSCOM, the premier industry body representing India’s technology sector, has not yet issued a formal statement on the WFH advisory request. However, sources within NASSCOM indicated that the organisation is likely to push back against a mandatory advisory, arguing that work arrangements should be determined by individual companies based on their operational needs and client requirements.
Some technology leaders have expressed openness to a renewed WFH push in the current circumstances. “The energy crisis is real, and the IT sector has a unique ability to contribute to fuel conservation without sacrificing productivity,” said a senior executive at a mid-tier IT company who spoke on condition of anonymity. “If the government issues an advisory, it gives companies the cover they need to reverse their RTO mandates without appearing to back down.”
Others, particularly those at companies with large campus-based operations and significant real estate investments, have been less enthusiastic. The return-to-office push in 2024-25 was driven in part by concerns about employee engagement, collaboration, and the maintenance of organisational culture — issues that companies argue are harder to address in a fully remote environment. Additionally, some companies have long-term lease obligations for office space that create financial incentives to maintain in-office attendance.
The Economic Case for IT WFH
The economic case for mandatory WFH in the IT sector during the energy crisis is compelling. India’s IT workforce is concentrated in a handful of cities — Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Pune, Chennai, and Gurugram — where traffic congestion and long commutes are among the worst in the world. A shift to remote work for even 50 per cent of the IT workforce would remove millions of cars from the road daily, reducing fuel consumption by an estimated 15-20 million litres per month according to back-of-envelope calculations by transport researchers.
The savings extend beyond fuel. Reduced commuting means lower wear on road infrastructure, fewer accidents, reduced urban air pollution, and significant time savings for employees — time that can be redirected into productive work or personal well-being. During the COVID-19 WFH period, multiple studies found that Indian IT workers reported higher job satisfaction, lower stress levels, and equal or improved productivity compared to office-based work.
The Indian IT sector is also uniquely positioned to implement WFH without operational disruption. The industry’s work is predominantly digital, its workforce is technically skilled and well-equipped for remote work, and the infrastructure for remote collaboration — including VPNs, cloud-based development environments, and video conferencing tools — is already in place from the pandemic era.
What Happens Next?
The Ministry of Labour and Employment has not yet responded to the NITES letter. Industry analysts expect the government to take a measured approach — potentially issuing a non-binding advisory or recommendation rather than a mandatory directive — to balance the fuel conservation imperative with the concerns of the IT industry about operational flexibility.
For IT employees, the outcome of this debate has immediate and practical implications. A government advisory, even if advisory in nature rather than mandatory, would create significant pressure on companies to relax their RTO mandates and offer genuine hybrid or remote options. In the current social and economic environment, where fuel conservation has been elevated to a matter of national importance by no less than the Prime Minister himself, companies that resist WFH arrangements risk appearing tone-deaf to both government policy and employee welfare.
The IT WFH debate is ultimately about more than fuel prices. It is about the future of work in India’s most globally integrated and technologically advanced sector. The energy crisis may be the catalyst, but the underlying question — whether the Indian technology industry will embrace the flexibility that its workforce demands — will outlast the current geopolitical crisis.
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