Bill tabled in US Congress seeks call centre employees to disclose location

Legislation introduced in the US Congress could potentially curtail the competitiveness of the business process outsourcing (BPO) industry in India and other key offshore locations like the Philippines and Mexico.

Introduced by Senator Sherrod Brown from Ohio, the piece of legislation, if passed, will require call centre employees to disclose their locations and give customers the right to ask to have their calls transferred to customer service agents in the US. The item of legislation also proposes the creation of a public list of companies that outsource call centre jobs and provide preference in federal contracts to firms that have not shipped these jobs overseas.

This, however is not the first time such a proposal has been introduced in the US. In 2013, a similar piece of legislation, which was introduced by Congressman Tim Bishop and supported by many senators, did not see the light of the day.