The Firm set up India’s first TMT Practice in 1999. Ever since, it has been the leading law firm in India for technology work, representing a multitude of international and blue-chip companies (including Fortune Global 500 cos.) doing business in India. This includes both leading technology companies and businesses in other areas like financial services who are offshoring their operations to India.
The areas of practice are:
- Offshore Centers : The Firm assists international companies in setting up offshore development centres in areas such as software development, BPO and call centers in India. We have set up some of the largest centres in India for clients in sectors such as software, financial services and aviation. We have unsurpassed domain expertise and practical knowledge of the best practices in setting up and operating such operations in India.
- Outsourcing : The Firm has handled some of the largest and complex outsourcing transactions including BOT deals, multi sourcing projects, etc. We combine a deep knowledge of how outsourcing transactions work with a coordinated approach to dealing with typical issues in Intellectual Property, Taxation, Employment and Dispute Resolution.
- Telecom : The Firm has substantial experience in telecom particularly in assisting multinationals in structuring their telecom connectivity including issues relating to use of voice over IP (VoIP), inter connection of VoIP and PSTN calls and working out configurations and call flows that work. The Firm is particularly known for its unique domain expertise in this area and has assisted over 70 Fortune 500 companies in this area. The Firm has provided advice on legal and regulatory issues pertaining to local and long-distance telecommunication services, terrestrial and deep-sea fibre optic cable systems, mobile number portability and value added services. The Firm has substantial experience in assisting video conference service providers and cloud PBX providers.
- Space and Telecom : In the recent past, we have assisted clients in the use of satellite technology for provision of telecom services including the space regime in India, requirements for use of foreign satellites, and telecom licensing in India. This is perhaps the most path breaking work done by the Firm in the TMT area.
- Internet & E-commerce : The Firm pioneered in internet and e-commerce by assisting in the setting up of payment gateways in India. The Firm has represented numerous large companies in setting up their online sales operations in India including advice on FDI restrictions in e-commerce. The Firm has worked on numerous projects on setting up of e-commerce platforms in areas such as auto industry and healthcare.
- General Commercial : The Firm also assists its technology clients in various other commercial law matters including Corporate Compliance, Employment law, Real Estate, etc. The firm has a dedicated company secretarial practice that manages corporate compliance on a fixed fee basis. We have a large Employment practice and are particularly adept at advising companies on employee retention issues. We also have extensive experience in negotiating large real estate projects for the IT sector.
- Corporate Transactions : The Firm has handled numerous corporate transactions in the IT, Media & Broadcasting space, including venture capital investments, acquisitions and restructuring projects. We have handled both small acquisitions as well as large public company acquisitions in the technology industry. During due diligence, we leverage on our expertise in the technology industry to provide clients with a business-oriented analysis of legal issues, including in particular, analysis of commercial issues in customer contracts in the outsourcing industry.
- Data Privacy : The Firm has a large data privacy practice where it mostly assists multinationals on Indian law issues concerning the manner in which they deal with personal information involving Indian citizens. The work includes advice on privacy, data protection, breach notifications, encryption controls, data localization requirements, sector specific rules and use of Aadhaar data under applicable law and Supreme Court judgments. The Firm also has a substantial cyber security practice and has assisted clients in enforcement actions concerning data theft.
- Product requirements : The Firm has assisted numerous clients on regulatory requirements relating to electronic and telecom equipment including advice on legal metrology requirements for packaging, certification from the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) and equipment type approvals from the Wireless and Planning Co-ordination Wing (WPC).
- Unique Tech solutions : The Firm leverages its expertise in the TMT space to assist clients in understanding the legal and regulatory issues associated with their unique tech products which cover areas such as telecom, e-commerce, artificial intelligence (AI), etc.
- FinTech : The Firm’s technology lawyers combine with our Banking and Finance practice to assist clients in various aspects of FinTech including payment solutions, use of payment wallets, operation of crypto currency exchanges, etc.
- IT Contracting: The Firm has substantial experience in assisting clients on IT contracts including licensing, outsourcing, systems integration projects, joint development projects, marketing arrangements, partnering arrangements as well as internet and e-commerce documentation such as terms of use, privacy policies, etc.
- Media & Broadcasting : The Firm has represented prominent companies in the media & broadcasting sector on broadcast licensing issues, up-linking and down-linking issues, carriage and broadcasting rights, Conditional Access System (CAS), Digital Addressable System (DAS) and Direct-To-Home (DTH) issues, Headed-In-The-Sky (HITS), Internet Protocol Television (IPTV), Over the top (OTT), content regulation on television, co-branding and franchise agreements, protection and licensing of intellectual property and other technology assets including broadcasting legislations. The Firm has assisted its clients in obtaining requisite approvals, licenses, authorizations, permissions and clearances from the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB), Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) and Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI).
