Introduction to BPOs in India

Business Process Outsourcing or BPO for short has become one of the most flourishing sectors in the ITES(IT Enabled Services) sector of India. The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Information Technology released a report which claims that the revenue generated by the BPO/ITES sector in India rose to up to  $30.1 billion in the year 2016-17. The report also claimed that a whopping 11.52 lakh Indians are employed by the BPO industry. We can only imagine that those numbers have risen in the past 1 year or so. The BPO industry in India made its first appearance around the mid-1990s and we haven’t looked back ever since.

This begs the question: What is a BPO? BPO, as we stated earlier, stands for Business Process Outsourcing. Outsourcing in layman terms means giving the responsibility of a particular process of the company for eg. customer support to another company. There are a large number of firms in highly developed countries eg. The USA/UK who would rather focus on their core processes and ship out their non-core processes to other companies at a lower operational cost. They do so by cutting overhead costs yet still providing quality services.

The main reasons that outsourcing the processes of companies works in India is because it reduces expenses without affecting the profits of the company. There are other factors which help India to be one of the top go-to places for process outsourcing in India.

  • Economy of Scale – Company scales well because there is no effect on profits
  • Factor Cost Advantage – Maintaining the Quality of Service at lower operational  costs
  • Superior Competency- India is the largest English speaking country in the world, with high proficiency in speaking English
  • Business Risk Mitigation- Risk to core products and services being affected is minimized
  • Utilization Improvement- Companies deploy resources efficiently

Starting a BPO

Are you looking to start a BPO service in India? BPO industry in India requires an OSP(“Other Service Provider”) registration for entities to function as a BPO under instructions of Department of Telecommunication(DOT). In addition to this, to acquire OSP registration all companies should incorporate a private limited company confirming to ROC compliances.

Services Provided by BPO Industry in India

Here we list down the wide array of services BPO industry in India provide:

  • Customer Support Services- Around the clock inbound/outbound call center services which handle queries, complaints of customers via phone calls, e-mails or live chats.
  • Technical Support Services – Installation, product support, running support, troubleshooting, usage support and problem resolution for computer software, hardware, peripherals and internet infrastructure
  • Telemarketing Services – Upselling, promoting, cross-selling to existing customer base. Also includes interacting with new potential customers interested in the company’s products or services.
  • IT help desk Services-  Performing remote diagnostics,  Systems, and their technical problem resolutions, Support for office productivity tools along with product usage queries. Level1 and Level 2 multichannel supports are also available.
  • Insurance Processing- Aquisition and promotion of New Businesses, Claims to process along with Policy maintenance and management
  • Data Entry and Data Processing-  Data entry from various resources such as mailing lists, books, images, yellow pages among many more
  • Data Conversion Services – Data Conversion for various resources such as spreadsheets, word processors, and databases. Conversion of raw data into PDF, Word, HTML, acrobat formats as well.
  • Bookkeeping and Accounting Services-  Maintaining customer’s general ledger, Account receivables, and payables along with Financial statements, bank reconciliations, and assets/equipment ledgers.
  • Form Processing Services- Processing various kinds of forms for eg. Payroll processing, Medical Billings, Insurance claims and other medical forms
  • Online Research-  Market research, Product research, surveys, analysis etc. with the help of the internet.

Conclusion

Thus, the BPO industry in India is nothing short of a gold mine for large-scale companies looking to outsource their non-core processes. The industry has been booming in the country for a better part of over 30 years now.  There are no signs to show that this progress will slow down any time soon. The BPO industry in India has offered a means of employment many to enthusiastic high-school pass-outs in the country. We should not ignore the contributions of these young individuals to the economy of our ever-growing country.

India is a land of diverse cultures and languages. Despite being so culturally diverse we have emerged as one of the top English speaking countries in the world. We should also give credit to the government for allowing the blooming of the industry in the economy.

Inspired to try out a career in BPO? Share this article with your friends and make them aware of a world of possibilities as well.

Want to try out starting a BPO in India? Set your company’s foot in the right direction with our services at LegalRaasta where we can assist with the legal formalities of OSP registration.

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