PM Modi WFH News Live: Amid fuel price hike & work from home buzz, Modi Cabinet to meet tomorrow
NCP (SP) MLAs ride horse, bullock cart in protest against PM’s fuel conservation call
Nationalist Congress Party (SP) leaders staged a symbolic protest in Thane on Tuesday against Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s appeal for austerity and reduced fuel consumption. MLA Jitendra Awhad rode a decorated horse, while party colleague Manoj Pradhan travelled in a bullock cart during a march to the Thane Municipal Corporation headquarters. Protesters carried placards and raised slogans over rising fuel prices and the cost of living, drawing significant public attention across the city.
Corporate India is now aligning with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s call to encourage work-from-home (WFH), reduce non-essential travel, and conserve foreign exchange. Executives across conglomerates, consulting firms, financial services, and technology companies said they are reviewing policies and may expand remote work options while restricting domestic and international travel.
According to a report by Several firms already operating hybrid models said they will continue to follow them while monitoring the situation. KPMG India confirmed it is evaluating the announcement, while Deloitte, EY, Tata Motors, and Mercedes-Benz India reiterated their hybrid policies. Mercedes-Benz India CEO Santosh Iyer noted that business travel is already optimised to ensure only critical trips are undertaken.
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Amid global economic uncertainty and rising import pressures, AU Corporate Advisory and Legal Services has highlighted the economic rationale behind the Prime Minister’s appeal to reduce non-essential gold purchases, foreign travel, and fuel wastage. The firm said such measures could help contain India’s import bill, ease pressure on foreign exchange reserves, and support rupee stability during volatile geopolitical and energy market conditions.
Speaking at events in Vadodara and Telangana over the weekend, PM Modi urged companies and citizens to return to Covid-era practices such as “online meetings, video conferences and work from home” to reduce fuel consumption and unnecessary travel during a period of global economic uncertainty linked to the West Asia crisis.
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“The West Asia crisis is one of the worst in the decade; just as we overcame the COVID-19 pandemic, we will come out of this also,” PM Modi said in Vadodara on Monday.
The prime minister also called on citizens to reduce fuel use, adopt public transport and electric vehicles, avoid unnecessary foreign travel and defer gold purchases to help conserve foreign exchange reserves.
“We must make every effort to reduce the use of imported products and avoid personal activities that involve spending foreign currency,” he said.
Despite PM Modi’s public endorsement of remote work, Indian employees still have no statutory right to work from home, according to legal experts.
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“There is currently no statutory right to work from home under Indian labour laws,” as per a Bengaluru-based labour law expert cited by News18, who also added, “Unless remote work is part of the employment contract, company policy, collective agreement or mandated through a government notification, employers retain discretion over attendance requirements.”
India does not have a dedicated law granting employees a universal legal entitlement to remote work. Office attendance and workplace location remain governed by employment contracts, HR policies and state-level Shops and Establishments Acts.
Although India’s new labour codes formally recognise work-from-home and hybrid arrangements for the first time, experts say such provisions still depend on “mutual agreement” between employers and employees.
For most white-collar workers, workplace regulation continues under state laws such as the Karnataka, Delhi and Maharashtra Shops and Establishments Acts, which regulate working hours, leave, overtime and employee welfare but do not create a blanket right to remote work.
During the pandemic, governments invoked emergency powers under the Disaster Management Act, 2005, the Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897 and various state disaster-management regulations to mandate remote work wherever possible. The Union Ministry of Home Affairs had also issued binding guidelines directing offices to function remotely.
