IT companies in Hyderabad have been instructed to disable fingerprint-based biometric attendance systems and instead go for card-based and/or facial biometrics. All the information technology companies in the city use biometric not only to mark attendance but also to track the entry and exit of employees in the office. The disabling of fingerprint-based biometric is one of the many protocols being given to IT companies in the wake of a techie testing positive for COVID-19 in Hyderabad.
About 180 to 200 IT heads, representing different IT companies, had gathered for a meeting at the Hyderabad Police Commissionerate and were given Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) in case any virus is detected on any of their premises. These SOPs include what needs to be done, who are potential vendors to contact and how to get sanitisation certification so that employees can return to work.
“We also informed them that we will be forming a sub-committee which will be issuing circulars on the current status, and companies can rely on them to take any further action,” said Hyderabad Software Enterprises Association (Hysea) president Murali Bollu. Companies have also been instructed to judiciously use the ‘work from home’ option and not to take decisions based on rumours and WhatsApp forwards.
In terms of evacuation, Bollu said the companies must get in touch with the IT park authorities and take a decision based on the SOPs of the parks.
