India’s largest IT services company Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) has fired 16 of its employees and barred six vendors in connection with a bribe-for-jobs scam. The IT company in its inquiry found as many as 19 employees were involved in the cash-for-jobs scandal that surfaced in June. As many as 16 employees have been separated from the company for code of conduct violations, and three employees have been removed from the Resource Management function.
Additionally, the company has also debarred six vendor entities, their owners and affiliates from doing any business with TCS.
16 employees have been separated from company
“Our investigation found 19 employees to be involved and action has been taken against all as detailed here – 16 employees have been separated from the Company for code of conduct violations, and 3 employees have been removed from the Resource Management function,” TCS, a Tata Group company, informed stock exchanges Sunday late in the evening.
In June 2023, a media report emerged alleging a scam in the recruitment process at the largest software exporter. The complaint referred to in the article was related to the hiring of such contract resources employed by the contractors. TCS had then said the recruitment activities in TCS are not handled by the Resource Management Group (RMG) as alleged, therefore the reference to the alleged scam in the recruitment process is incorrect.
The allegation came to light within weeks of K Krithivasan taking charge as the company’s chief executive and was the first major challenge faced by him. “The issue relates to a breach of the company’s code of conduct by certain employees and vendors supplying contractors,” the statement said.
'TCS will continue to enhance governance measures'
TCS, however, said that the investigations found that none of its key managerial positions had any involvement in the case and that there is no fraud against and financial impact on Tata Consultancy Services.
In the statement, TCS said it will continue to enhance governance measures, including regularly rotating personnel in the resource management function and enhancing analytics on supplier management.
It said the company expects all stakeholders and employees to adhere to the Tata code of conduct, and added that it has zero tolerance for unethical conduct. “As a Tata Group company, we have a zero-tolerance policy towards such unethical conduct and the actions of these individuals do not reflect our values. We expect all our stakeholders and our employees to strictly adhere to the Tata Code of Conduct, which forms the bedrock of our integrity,’ it added.
(With agencies input)
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