India has a strong case against US visa fee hike, says Nasscom chief

Talk to Nasscom president Som Mittal and it is very obvious that he has still not gotten over the shock from the “discriminatory” law enacted by the US government.

The law, which was recently passed at a surprising speed by the US Senate, slaps a higher visa fee on Indian software services companies to cover the increased cost of $600 million for protecting the US-Mexico border. Mittal, however, has not lost all hopes and believes Indian information technology (IT) services firms will get justice at the World Trade Organisation (WTO).

He feels India has a strong case with the WTO as the US move is discriminatory and “is a violation of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT)”.

“I would think so (that India has a strong case) as far as my reading is concerned.  Visa laws may be a sovereign matter, but when it comes to discrimination-charging one (company from India) more fees more than the other (the US firms)-it (the US government’s move) is a violation of the GATT,” he said.

And even though Nasscom has opposed the law, it does not expect it will be rolled back due to the mounting pressure from the Indian and US lobby.

“They can surely ensure that the impact is less. There have been cases in the past where it (laws) has been rolled back.  If you remember the TARP (Troubled Asset Relief Programme) guidelines, which incentivised companies that bought American goods and services. That was discriminatory and the US government retracted it. 

So, if there is an infringement of the GATT and WTO, there is provision to retract it,” said the Nasscom chief.

Mittal, however, feels any backtracking by the US government on the new Act or revision of the visa fee would not be easy. “Mind you, it (the law) has been enacted. And if there is lowering of fee then they (lawmakers) will have to go back to the Senate,” he said.

The Nasscom chief said the industry lobby body wanted to send a strong message to the US government that such protectionist overtures were not “appreciated” by India.

“We continue to give our message that the protectionism and discrimination is not appreciated. India would take a strong stand on this,” he said.

Mittal said such discriminatory tendencies needed to be nipped in the bud. “We think once this discriminatory tendency comes in, it can be used again and again.

Tomorrow they’ll (US lawmakers) start doing something else. So, we need to work on this,” he said. “We do hope this message is strong and clear and lawmakers would desist from taking up any steps which are discriminatory in nature (in future).”