It has been a known fact that the employees of Infosys have been having to pay parking fees for their vehicles. But the issue became more serious after the knowledge that the MNC has been deducting the parking charges from the employees’ salary came to light. The company was been docking Rs. 250 for two-wheeler and Rs. 500 for four-wheelers from the staff’s monthly wages.
The members of the staff tried to reason with the HR department in the past, but we’re repeatedly told that the fees were used to maintain the parking lot, and was collected across all Infosys branches. This was even brought to the attention of the labour department only to be told that this matter did not come under their jurisdiction as the office is located in the Special Economic Zone (SEZ).
This issue was later on brought to the notice of activist Vijay Gopal from The Forum Against Corruption, who claimed that the campus is governed by the Shops and Establishments Act. He also cited Go 63, which specifies the method of collection of parking fees. However, an Infosys spokesperson stated that Go 63 is not applicable for software majors as the parking facility is exclusively for the faculty and is not used as a commercial activity.
“ The charges collected from the employees as a deduction from salary, is accounted as a fund with the Infosys Employees Welfare Trust spokespersons the same for the maintenance and upkeep of the parking facility”, states the spokesperson. He also said that the complaints against the charges were ‘ frivolous’ and ‘motivated’.