The travails of Indian software professionals in The Netherlands have traumatised the Indian software capital, raising a range of emotions and provoking a variety of views.

Most senior managers running the global deployment of professionals are reluctant to speak for the record.

But this is made up in private conversation with the display of the strongest of feelings, with appreciation for the tough handling by the ministry of external affairs.

"It looks as if business visas have been used extendedly by Indian companies, otherwise this problem would not have cropped up," is the cautious remark of Laxman Badiga, chief executive, talent transformation and external relations in Wipro Technologies.

"We have been fairly critical in our use of the business visa and done it mostly for pre-sale activity, to respond to an RPF (request for proposal). If it is a case of fixing a problem then we usually ask for a work permit with multiple entry," he adds, defining the position of a company known for its punctiliousness.

Details about the I-flex issue are not known but they are a product company and their requirements are quite different from the requirements of services companies, Badiga explains.

But Microsoft sends people to fix problems at short notice, possibly using business visas, he speculates.

There is an additional complication about issues relating to working in a particular country with a Schengen visa which is for multiple countries.

But off the record, another top executive who knows the business inside out is much more critical of both Indian public reactions and industry practices.

He points out that the incidents, from Indonesia to the Netherlands, are unrelated. "We should not be making such a song and dance about them, bringing in the government, the external affairs ministry."

In the late nineties in Texas, a hundred Indian IT professionals who were on business visas but should have been on H1B visas were rounded up and handcuffed, one or two of whom were even pregnant.

There was no hue and cry then. If the US carried out a detailed investigation today then a lot would be unearthed, he feels.

"Developed markets have stringent visa regulations which have to be adhered to. There have been many laxities on the part of Indian companies and the number of companies going strictly by the rule book is negligible," is his forthright comment.

He makes a startling revelation when he states categorically that “Some of the top ten companies apply for H1B visas for professionals sometimes even before they have joined them.”

As very few companies have a predictable run rate of business, they tend to send a professional when they land some work on a business visa rather than apply beforehand for a work permit.

Logically, a company should apply for work permits and station its own professionals in the country concerned to respond to quick demands for services from customers.

As there is a global competition for H1B visas issued by the US, a company that fails to get one and when the quota is over, tends to send its professionals on business visas.

Anil Chugh, head, world wide marketing, Majoris, a newer and smaller software company, says a business visa is often used to make a short trip to glean customer requirement, a short consulting operation which may be paid or unpaid.

But if it is for 3-4 months and the service is going to be charged then it would require a work permit. Indian companies typically use the business visa to make short trips and recover costs.

"But i-flex is a reputed, listed company which is linked to Citigroup. So I find it difficult to believe that they will do something that will be quite out of line." I-flex is a product company and services is a third of their business.

Chugh adds that "the Netherlands is known for its clean procedures. They follow rules and are very touchy about what you can and cannot do with which visa."

Today, the mood is changing. Germany is said to be revoking the green card which it had introduced not so long ago while announcing a sort of open door policy for professionals.

The Netherlands action may result from them also changing their approach and becoming tighter in the enforcement of rules.

But these are new businesses which need new rules and vehicles, feels Chugh. Work permits designed for the era of manufacturing should not be used to fit the requirement of outsourced IT work which were quite different.

The warts are showing

In the late nineties in Texas, a hundred Indian IT professionals who were on business visas but should have been on H1B visas were rounded up and handcuffed, one or two of whom were even pregnant. There was no hue and cry then.

As very few companies have a predictable run rate of business, they tend to send a professional when they land some work on a business visa rather than apply beforehand for a work permit.