The Companies (Corporate Social Responsibility Policy) Amendment Rules, 2021 has been notified by the Ministry of Corporate Affairs, Government of India on 22nd of January, 2021. Govt. allowed Corporate India to spend its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) funds for carrying out awareness campaigns/ programmes or public outreach campaigns on Covid-19 vaccination programmes. Covid-19 vaccination will be treated as an eligible CSR activity under Schedule VII of the Companies Act, 2013, under items relating to promotion of healthcare, including preventive healthcare and sanitisation, promoting education and disaster management respectively.
As India accelerates its vaccination drive in its fight against Covid -19, several corporates have come forward to match the enthusiasm by committing to vaccinate their employees free of cost. Many have gone a step further by offering to vaccinate even kith and kin of their employees.
India started its Covid vaccination campaign on January 16 with the two vaccines under the name Covaxin and Covishield. Earlier, it was limited to healthcare workers and frontline staff only. However, From March 1, the eligibility criteria expanded to include people over 60 and those between the age group of 45 and 59 having co-morbidities. The government hospitals are offering free jabs while those who want to get vaccinated at private facilities can get it for Rs 250 rupees per dose.
Apart from these several other private companies have also committed to covering vaccine costs for their employees and their family members. These include Infosys, Accenture, Mindtree, Sify Technologies, Airtel, etc.
Here are some of the companies who are the trend setter in this area:
Indian business conglomerate, DCM Shriram Ltd has announced that it will cover the cost of Covid-19 vaccination for all of its employees and their family members. The company will be reimbursing the cost of Covid-19 vaccinations inclusive of both the doses for all employees, across various levels and categories, along with their dependent family members.
Bharat Financial Inclusion Ltd. (BFIL), a 100% subsidiary of IndusInd Bank, said that it will bear the costs of COVID-19 vaccinations to inoculate over 28000 employees of the company to protect them against the coronavirus. As part of the initiative, the company will fully reimburse the vaccination costs to the employees as and when they receive the two mandated doses.
TVS Motor Company said that it will provide free Covid-19 vaccination to all its employees and their immediate family members. In line with the ongoing government guidelines, the vaccination drive will cover 35,000 direct and indirect company employees across the country.
ICICI Bank will provide COVID-19 vaccination for all its employees including their immediate family members free of cost. The bank will reimburse the cost of the two mandated vaccine shots for its employees and their dependent family members.
Capgemini, a global consultancy firm has announced that it will cover the cost of coronavirus vaccines of all eligible employees and their dependents in strict accordance with all the Government-approved protocols.
Pre-owned luxury car leaders, Big Boy Toyz set forth to bear the cost of the Covid-19 vaccine for its employees across the country. With a workforce strength of 150 plus people, BBT Founder Jatin Ahuja, takes pride in his team who has been working towards the growth of the organization and servicing people across the country throughout the pandemic. Employees can now get themselves vaccinated at any government booths and will get certified by the Government of India.
E-commerce leader Flipkart will cover the vaccination cost for all Flipkart and Myntra employees and three dependents. The Group has decided to cover 100 per cent of the vaccination cost for all Flipkart and Myntra employees and three dependents. Employees can choose to be reimbursed for the costs of the vaccinations or get them free of charge at a partner hospital. The company has also created a provision for employees to avail a day’s leave to manage the vaccination process and will be allowed to take the Covid special care leave to manage any symptoms post-vaccination.
Private sector banker HDFC Bank said that it will bear the cost of vaccination of over 1 lakh employees and their immediate family members against coronavirus. The Bank will reimburse vaccination costs for the two mandated doses.
ReNew Power, a clean energy firm has decided to provide COVID-19 vaccination free of cost to its 1,500 employees as well as their families. Assuming a family of five, back-of-the-envelope calculations indicate that ReNew Power would provide vaccination to around 7,500 people across its 110 locations in India.
Škoda Auto Volkswagen India has announced the commencement of the Covid-19 vaccination drive for all its employees as well as their dependents in line with the ongoing government guidelines. Apart from the on-roll employees, the program will also cover the apprentices and will be working with its suppliers to cover the third-party workers.
Reliance Industries it will bear the vaccination cost for its 1,39,000 employees and their families. In a mail to the employees, Chairperson and founder of Reliance Foundation Nita Ambani said, “Reliance will bear the full cost of vaccination for you, your spouse, your parents, and vaccine-eligible children.”
Hospitality firm OYO will cover COVID-19 vaccination cost for all its employees and their family members in India. The employees and their family members in India can choose to get the vaccination done at any centre, convenient to them and the costs would be reimbursed in full by the company, OYO said in a statement. The company has also enhanced the insurance benefit of employees to include a COVID-19 home care cover
Trident Group, a textile major on Tuesday announced that it will provide free Covid-19 vaccines to all its 14,000 employees and their family members free of charge. Eligible family members include parents, spouse and children of employees.
Havells India, a consumer electrical goods maker has said that it will cover the cost of COVID-19 vaccination for all its direct and indirect employees in India.
IT leader Cognizant has announced that it will vaccinate 600,000 people in India including over 200,000 full-time employees and their dependents as well as about 50,000 support staff and their families.
UpGrad, an Edtech firm, has said it will be covering 100 per cent vaccination costs for its entire staff (full-time, contract and intern) and their families. The vaccination drive will be voluntary for employees and their immediate families, who can avail of it in major cities. The drive will also embrace ex-employees who may seek assistance from UpGrad. Thus, more than 10,000 people comprising self, spouse, kids, and parents of current employees and ex-employees could be benefiting from this move.
