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Workers of TV Licensing, the body responsible for collection and enforcement of television licence in Britain, have voted overwhelmingly to strike to protest against plans to outsource work to India. The decision to agitate (94.6 per cent of workers voted in favour of it) was taken after Capita, a leading BPO and services company which employs a majority of the workers, revealed its plans to outsource work to Mumbai. Andy Furey, assistant secretary of the workers' union said the decision to outsource to India with the support of the BBC would result in the loss of hundreds of jobs in the city of Bristol. He said 124 employees were expected to strike on a date yet to be decided. Communication Workers Union (CWC) will also launch a public campaign to increase awareness of the risk to the public caused by alleged lack of security of customer bank details in Indian call centres, Furey said. "CWU condemns the cynical decision by Capita to offshore UK TV licence jobs to India. This move, by a successful blue-chip company, is motivated entirely by greed. "It will result not only in the loss of quality employment but will also leave customers' personal information and bank details open to abuse," he said. A licence is compulsory for millions of TV owners in Britain. A majority of the BBC's funding comes from the licence fee, which currently stands at 131.50 pounds per annum for a colour TV set and 44 pounds for a black and white one. In a statement the BBC said: "Capita's decision to move more back-office operations to India was made in the interest of providing the highest possible standards of service and value for money for licence fee payers." "All of our customer details are and will continue to be held in secure IT systems in the UK. There will be no immediate job losses," a Capita spokesperson said. —
PTI
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