Going Paperless in BFSI: Can We Skip the Hard Copy of Appointment Letters?

Hi all,

I'm working with a BFSI company and wanted to check if we can skip giving the hard copy of the Appointment Letter as we share the soft copy when we roll out the offer. We aim to have maximum paperless processes starting this year.

How many appointment letters do you issue per annum? What would be the savings in percentage against total employee cost if you stopped issuing the paper-based appointment letters?

While email communication is acceptable as evidence in the Indian courts of law, when a problem arises, proving that communication through email has taken place can be a difficult and time-consuming process. Despite being a major software exporter, India lags behind in e-governance. Therefore, any savings you might achieve by issuing the appointment letters through email could be nullified in a single case when a dispute arises. In contrast, a written copy is always in your possession and easy to retrieve.

Handling routine inter-departmental or intra-departmental communication through email is one thing, but saving on the appointment letters is another. The latter is nothing but a contract between the employer and employee. Therefore, make this decision judiciously. While cost-cutting is often a priority for organizations, there are always opportunities to reduce costs through scientific management practices. Most Indian companies are still far from implementing scientific management practices. Whether you are an exception, only you would know better.

Thanks,

Dinesh Divekar

I agree with Mr. Dinesh. If you want to move to a paperless office, you need to take sound advice from competent professionals or lawyers dealing with the Indian Evidence Act and the Information Technology Act, as documents like appointment letters have evidentiary value as legal documents of a contract.

Secondly, with hacking and data thefts on the rise, you need to ensure whether any theft-proof technology is available in India and how a backup can be created in case of data loss. It requires a thorough examination at your end.

Regards, B. Saikumar

Moving Towards a Paperless Office

Good thought process. Save paper, save trees, and the environment. But have a clear plan when you go paperless. The paperless office was a slogan by IBM computers long ago, but to achieve the dream:

Ensure that all legal requirements are met. The exchange of emails should not become a matter of dispute. Some records need to be in paper form only when you deal with other agencies. Seek help from those knowledgeable about the IT Act and the Indian Evidence Act of 1872. So, go step by step towards a paperless office. As far as the appointment letter is concerned, please take out proper paper copies and preserve them properly.

Thank you all for the inputs. We hire people on a seasonal basis (for 4-5 months only) and would like to offer letters to around 700+ people, so I wanted to check if we can just have e-offer letters.

Regards, Apurva Kulkarni